Red Star Rising; November 2005; Scientific American Magazine; by Mark Alpert; 1 Page(s)

As every comic-book fan knows, Superman was born on the planet Krypton, which orbited a red star. Scientists are now learning that the Superman legend may contain a kernel of truth: the best places to find life in our galaxy could be on planets that circle the small but common stars known as red dwarfs.

Last June astronomers reported the discovery of Krypton's real-life counterpart, a planet orbiting a red dwarf called Gliese 876, about 15 light-years from our sun. Although researchers had previously identified two other planets orbiting Gliese 876, the detection of the third body made headlines because it is so much like Earth. Nearly all the planets found outside our solar system to date are gas giants comparable in size to Jupiter or Neptune. The newly discovered world, in contrast, is most likely a rocky body only about twice as large as Earth.