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There’s a new way to hunt down exoplanets – and it’s just made its first big discovery

A new planet, more than three times the mass of Earth, has been discovered orbiting our closest single star. The discovery, which took more than 20 years to make, marks a change in the way we look for new planets.

This is the first time a planet of its size, known as a super-Earth, with an orbital period of 200 days, has been found using a well-established method; by measuring the fractional changes in the speed of the star caused by the planet orbiting around it.

WATCH: Astronomers spot two fireballs in skies over southern Spain

ASTRONOMERS at an observatory in Central Spain said they spotted two pieces of debris from space falling over the skies of southern Spain yesterday (Sunday).

Scientists at the La Hita observatory in Toledo said the fireballs, one a comet and the other an asteroid, fell within around two hours of each other.

They were also sighted by observers in the Calar Alto observatory in Almeria Province and those at the Granada Province-based La Sagra.

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