Astronomers find 'super Earth' planets orbiting a nearby star
where life could exist  Updated June 26, 2013 08:04:03  Three
"super Earth" planets have been found orbiting a nearby star at
a distance where life in theory could exist, according to a
record-breaking tally announced by the European Southern
Observatory (ESO).   The planets orbit Gliese 667C in the so-
called Goldilocks Zone - a distance from the star at which the
temperature is just right for water to exist in liquid form
rather than being stripped away by stellar radiation or locked
permanently in ice.  "It's exciting that we've found a nearby
star that has so many planets in its habitable zone," University
of Washington astronomer Rory Barnes said.     "These planets
are good candidates to have a solid surface and maybe an
atmosphere like the Earth's, not something like Jupiter's," Dr
Barnes said in a press release issued by his university.  Their
close proximity "makes it like they are tidally locked, which in
this case means the same hemispher