Shot-in-the-dark astronomy finds super-EarthDARIO SABLJAK 'Super-Earth' MOA-2012-BLG-505Lb is about 24,000 light years away from earth. Called gravitational microlensing, it helped Auckland and Massey University scientists Associate Professor Ian Bond and Dr Nick Rattenbury find a new giant planet orbiting a far flung star this year with Canterbury's Mt John telescope - a 'super-Earth.' NICK RATTENBURY Canterbury's Mt John Observatory MOA-II telescope. Since the 1990's about 25 planets have been found using gravitational microlensing, about another 14 are yet to be confirmed, he said. The collaboration group's under peer-review paper, MOA-2012-BLG-505Lb: A super-Earth mass planet in the Galactic bulge, will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Source: Stuff April 20, 2017 06:45 UTC