16 light years from here is the sun 40 Eridani A. In the Star Trek universe the planet Vulcan is located there, homeworld of the famous Mr. Spock.
Now astronomers have found that there is andeed a hot, heavy planet circling around that star.
At twice Earth's radius and eight to nine times its mass, 40 Eridani b sits on the line that divides rocky super-Earths from gaseous ones. The planet orbits its star every 42 days, putting just inside the system's habitable zone — in other words, where it's nice and hot.
No wonder the Vulcans are so strong! Really not a place for an earthling to make holidays.
Still, it is the closest (as now) known super-earth and will get a lot of attention. As for the name, that is open for everyone's guess.
