Super-Earth: Could Harbor Water And Life, Only 42 Light-Years Away (VIDEO)

The search for liquid water has fueled countless imaginations and expeditions into space. Why? Because of extraterrestrial life of course - the general sense that we are not alone in this expanding universe. A recent discovery has many excited because scientists have located a planet relatively close to us that could potentially harbor the proper conditions for liquid water, and biological life as we know it.

The orange star HD 40307 is only 42 light-years away, in the constellation Pictor. Discovered in 2008, the star, which is around three-quarters the size of the sun, was previously thought to only have three planets in its solar system. That number has now grown to six.

It's the outermost planet that has scientists most interested, because it orbits around HD 40307 every 200 days, which allows it to exist at a distance where liquid water could form. The five inner planets are all too close to the star, which would cause any liquid water to evaporate.

"The longer orbit of the new planet means that its climate and atmosphere may be just right to support life. Just as Goldilocks liked her porridge to be neither too hot nor too cold but just right, this planet or indeed any moons that it has lie in an orbit comparable to Earth, increasing the probability of it being habitable," co-author of the study Hugh Jones said.

The planet, dubbed 'super-Earth,' has a mass seven times that of our own Earth, and orbits at a distance of around 56 million miles from HD 40307, which places it in the solar system's habitable zone. Both Earth and Mars exist in our solar system's habitable zone.

The planet is believed to be rocky based on recent observations of similar planets, although this hasn't been confirmed.

The reason that the existence of liquid water is so important in search for extraterrestrial life is because life as we understand it here on Earth evolved from the oceans. Finding a planet with water doesn't mean little green men, but even the presence of simple microbes will prove one thing - that we are not alone.