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Experts discovered the distant exoplanet – known as K2-18b – is a perfect candidate for hosting other life and is made out of rock like Earth.

The study by researchers at the University of Texas and the University of Montreal was carried out using data from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

They found K2-18b also has a sister planet they’ve called K2-18c – although it is not thought this is too hot for aliens.

Both planets orbit a red-dwarf star called K2-18 and fall within the star’s habitable zone.

(Image: GETTY)

Ryan Cloutier, of the University of Montreal, said: “Being able to measure the mass and density of K2-18b was tremendous, but to discover a new exoplanet was lucky and equally exciting.”

The team is now hoping that when NASA’s James Webb telescope is launched in 2019, the exoplanets can be studied in much greater detail.

University of Montreal Professor René Doyon added: “There's a lot of demand to use this telescope, so you have to be meticulous in choosing which exoplanets to look at.

“K2-18b is now one of the best targets for atmospheric study, it's going to the near top of the list."

Just last month, space boffins said they had found another “Super Earth”.

The Kepler telescope, which has already discovered about 2,300 planets, discovered planet Epic 24693474 in early-November.

Epic 24693474 is so close to its parent star a whole year on the planet lasts just seven hours.