"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stéphane Udry, from the Geneva Observatory (Switzerland) and lead-author of the paper reporting the result. "Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky -- like our Earth -- or covered with oceans," he added.
--Astronomers find first habitable Earth-like planet (Earth & Sky)
Hi Dennis: I knew it'd happen someday that they'd find a habitable planet. It's just too bad we can't get Scotty to beam us over there at light-speed. But we might not want to go so quickly since the given mass on the planet is five times earth's: Talk about "having the weight of the world on your shoulders!" By the way, I haven't heard anything from the Blogs, Wikis and Social Software Committee from the convention, have you? Is there a website yet for the online bibliography we discussed developing? Best, Eric.
Right, in all the coverage I haven't heard anyone mention how the mass of the planet would affect the gravity. I presume that a planet with 5x the mass of the earth would have 5x the gravity. Following up on the SIG is on my to-do list... I'll be in touch with folks soon.