Context: Recently, scientists have discovered a rare new Super-Earth planet. It is among only a handful of extra-solar planets that have been detected with both sizes and orbits close to that of Earth.
Key Points

• The University of Canterbury astronomers have come across a previously undiscovered planet that is among the handful to have similar size and mass as Earth. 
• The astronomers at the New Zealand university used the solar system as a point of reference, to compare what the Super Earth brings. 
• It has a host star which is about 10% the mass of the Sun. 
• The Super Earth planet has a mass somewhere between that of Earth and Neptune and would orbit at a location between Venus and Earth from the parent star. 
• It has a smaller host star, which means years on the Super Earth are longer—one year is approximately 617 days long.
• With reference to the Solar system, the Super-Earth planet would orbit at a radius anywhere between that of Venus and Earth in our solar system.

Method to explore Planet

• The Super-Earth planet has been discovered using the gravitational microlensing technique.
• Gravitational microlensing is an astronomical phenomenon due to the gravitational lens effect. It can be used to detect objects that range from the mass of a planet to the mass of a star, regardless of the light they emit.
• The microlensing effect is rare, with only about one in a million stars in the galaxy being affected at any given time.
• Furthermore, such type of observation does not repeat, and the probabilities of catching a planet at the same time are extremely low.

The other methods for exoplanets discovery include:

• Radial Velocity Method: The planet causes the parent star to wobble around in its orbit, and as the planet moves to and fro, it changes the color of the light we see.
• Transit Method: When an exoplanet passes in front of its star, some of the starlight passes through its atmosphere. Scientists can analyze the colors of this light in order to get valuable clues about its composition.
• Direct Image Method: The direct image can take pictures of exoplanets by removing the glare of the stars they orbit.
• Astrometry: The orbit of the planet can cause a star to wobble around in spaces in relation to nearby stars in the sky. This method is quite similar to the Radial Velocity method. However, here scientists take a series of images of a star and some of the other stars that are near it in the sky. In each picture, they compare the distances between these reference stars and the star they're checking for exoplanets.