"Super-Earth" Discovered Orbiting Distant Star

Scientists have discovered a new planet they call a "super-Earth" in a solar system 9,000 light-years away.

The icy, rocky planet, which weighs 13 times as much as Earth, orbits the outer region of its solar system, around a so-called red dwarf star that is about half as big as our sun.

The planet dominates a region similar to the one in our solar system that is populated by the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Scientists believe the planet likely didn't accumulate enough gas to grow to giant proportions. (See an interactive map of our solar system.)

"We've never been able to see these failed Jupiter cores before," said Andrew Gould, an astronomer at Ohio State University in Columbus who is leading the research.

"Super-Earth" Discovered Orbiting Distant Star