Two ancient super-Earths found orbiting nearby star

Los Angeles Times : Two super-Earths have been found orbiting Kapteyn’s star, the nearest halo red dwarf star, located just 13 light-years away. Kapteyn b is about five times the mass of Earth, orbits the star every 48 days, and appears to lie in the star’s habitable zone. Scientists estimate that it is about twice as old as Earth, making it the oldest potentially habitable exoplanet discovered to date. Kapteyn c is even bigger and orbits the star every 120 days. However, it appears to lie too far away from the star for water to exist as a liquid on its surface. Astronomers found the planets by using several land-based spectroscopic telescopes to look for tiny periodic changes in the motion of the star. So far, not much more is known about them, but as more sophisticated instruments get built, astronomers hope to gain more detailed information, such as what their atmospheres are like and whether there is water on their surfaces.