The discovery of a planet that is just 20 light-years away has been said to be the closest Earth analogue that scientists have ever uncovered.

A planet that may support alien life has been discovered less than 20 light-years away from Earth - and it's believed to house water too, according to the research team that found it

Scientists found an intriguing world in our galaxy. They confirmed the existence of a rocky planet, called a "super-Earth," that's some six times as massive as Earth. While the world HD 20794 d is larger than our planetary home,

Named HD 20794 D, the newly discovered exoplanet orbits a star similar to the Sun, and researchers believe it may be able to sustain liquid water, which is vital for life, as we know it, to exist. "Best of all,

Earth”, which could be home to alien life. The planet, known as HD 20794d, orbits in the habitable zone of a star similar to the sun, and is 20 light years away from our solar system - making it a close neighbour in a galaxy that spans 105,

The study of exoplanets has come a long way since the first detection of a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun in 1995. This groundbreaking discovery, achieved through the radial velocity (RV) technique,

Earth” planet that may have conditions suitable for life. The planet is outside our solar system and has a mass six times greater than that of Earth. The discovery is of an exoplanet, this is any planet beyond our solar system,

It is believed that the planet, named HD 20794 d, is at just the right distance from its star to sustain water on its surface, but because this distance changes over the course of its elliptical rather than circular orbit it is too early to say whether it could host life.