Astronomers discover potentially habitable new planet similar to Mars

The US space agency described the planet as being "remarkably similar to Earth".

An international research team spanning Australia, Britain, the United States and Denmark conducted the analysis, which was recently published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Scientists estimate the planet sits near to the edge of its stars "habitable zone", where liquid water could potentially exist.

Nasa said the amount of heat and light a planet such as HD 137010 b would receive from its star is less than a third of what Earth gets from the Sun.

It explained: "Although of a stellar type similar to our Sun, the star, HD 137010, is cooler and dimmer.

"That could mean a planetary surface temperature no higher than minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 68 degrees Celsius).

"By comparison, the average surface temperature on Mars runs about minus 85 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 65 degrees Celsius)."

The planet's discovery was detected by just one "transit" - the planet crossing its star's face - during the K2's second mission.

The study's authors used this information to estimate the candidate planet's orbital period.

They discovered that it took 10 hours for the planet's shadow to cross the star's face, compared to Earth's 13 hours.

Dr Chelsea Huang, a professor and astronomer at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) in Australia who co-authored the study, said the planet has an 355-day orbit, similar to Earth.

“What’s very exciting about this particular Earth-sized planet is that its star is only [about] 150 light-years away from our solar system,” Dr Huang said, according to The Guardian.

“The next best planet around a sun-like star, in a habitable zone, is about four times farther away and 20 times fainter.”