The planet , known as Dante , was discovered early last year . It took months to determine that it had a composition roughly similar to Earth 's . The planet is about five times more massive than Earth . Astronomer : They were helped by the fact that CoRoT-7b is relatively close to Earth -- about 500 light years away , in the constellation of Monoceros , the Unicorn . ` It is so close to the star it orbits that it may ` ` look like Dante 's . ''
The planet , known as Dante , was discovered early last year . It took months to determine that it had a composition roughly similar to Earth 's . The planet is about five times more massive than Earth . Astronomer : It is so close to the star it orbits that it may ` ` look like Dante 's . ''