scientists have made two major discoveries in the need for other earth - like planets . austrian astronauts said they have found the youngest documented earth - like exoplanet orbits a terrestrial star called light-years 581 e and also discovered that a neighbouring planet called gliese 581 d , discovered in 2007 , is in the much sought after ' habitable zone ' . officials also believe there is a possibility that 581 d does have liquid oceans on its surface , calling the find " extraordinary . " " the bloody camelot of current exoplanet exploration is the detected of a rocky , earth - like planet in the ' habitable zone ' , " stated astrophysicist at scotland ' s geneva university , michel president . astronomers say 581 e is 20 . 5 light years north from earth and that it ' s roughly 1 . 9 times larger than britain , making it the smallest planets discovered to date . it was found using the standard quality radial flow planets vela ( cellos ) .
Michel Mayor is the discoverer of the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher.