European astronomers announced it had found 32 new planets orbiting a star outside our solar system , the findings showed that 40 percent or more of the Sun-like stars have such planets.
The planets have sizes ranging from about five times the Earth up to five times Jupiter's, they said. A number of other planets have been discovered and astronomers were promised to announce it later this year.
"The last discovery was made the number of planets found outside our solar system to about 400," said Stephane Udry, from the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland.
"Nature does not seem empty. If there is room for the planet, then there will be a planet there," Udry said to reporters in the elucidation of the Internet from the astronomy meeting in Porto, Portugal.
"More than 40 percent of Sun-like stars have planets with low mass," he added.
The team of astronomers used the HARPS spectrograph (Seeker of Light Speed Planet High Accuracy) mounted 3.6-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in La Silla, Chile.
Spectrograph does not describe the planets directly, but scientists could calculate the size and mass by detecting small changes in the vibration of a star caused by the gravitational pull of small planets.
Astronomers want to find planets like Earth because this is the place most likely to harbor life.
HARPS has discovered 75 planets orbiting 30 different stars. ESO team did not give detailed explanation about what the stars diorbit by the 32 new planets.
