HD 20794 d completes its orbit just shy of two Earth years, placing it well within reach of conditions that might harbor life.

Thirty years after the discovery of the first exoplanet, astronomers have detected more than 7,000 of them in our galaxy. But there are still billions more to be discovered. At the same time, exoplanetologists have begun to take an interest in their characteristics,

An exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system that usually orbits a star in our galaxy. More than 7,000 have been found in the Milky Way since the first confirmed discovery in the 1990s, and "billions more remain to be discovered", said Tech Explorist.

Astronomers who identified HD 20794 d say its proximity to its host star and orbital pattern suggest it could hold water.

It is believed that the planet, named HD 20794 d, is at just the right distance from its star to sustain water on its surface, but because this distance changes over the course of its elliptical rather than circular orbit it is too early to say whether it could host life.

Astronomers have officially confirmed the existence of HD 20794 d, a super-Earth located just 20 light-years away, with conditions that could make it one of the most promising exoplanets for life beyond our solar system.