what you need to know about Earth #2

It's the first rocky planet to be discovered in the habitable zone around a star. The first of many, to be sure, but it's a big milestone, and the star is pretty close (as far as stars go).

• It orbits a red dwarf, which looms huge in the sky because it's 14 times closer to its star than we are. If you want to look toward it, the star is very close to the brightest star in Libra, highlighted above.
  
• Its mean temperature is between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, so we think there's liquid water.
• It makes a full orbit every 13 days, as opposed to our 365.
• It has a radius only 1.5 times that of earth.
• Models predict that it is either rocky or covered with oceans.
• There are at least two other planets around the star.
• It is 20.5 light years away. They don't know that Dukakis lost.
• We'll need either near-light speed travel or wormholes to get there. Or teleportation.