A group of U.S. researchers today said they have discovered an Earth-like planet that is 15 light years away from Earth.

The researchers said the main difference between the two planets is that it’s 7.5 times bigger and has twice as much radius as Earth. Furthermore, the new planet revolves around its parent star Gliese 876 in a circular orbit approximately two millions miles away. Earth, however, revolves around its parent star Sun some 93 million miles in distance.

"This is the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected and the first of a new class of rocky terrestrial planets. It's like Earth's bigger cousin," said Paul Butler, Team Member, Carnegie Institution, Washington.

Geoffrey March, another team member and Professor of Astronomy at University of California further added, "This planet answers an ancient question. Over 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus argued about whether there were other Earth-like planets. Now, for the first time, we have evidence for a rocky planet around a normal star."

The group of researchers said they have been monitoring the new planet for nearly three years before making their findings public. They added that there’s no possibility of life on the planet due to its 200-400 degrees of temperature. They also said they have no proof proving the new planet to be rocky, but they said it’s a likelihood that the planet does not have gaseous atmosphere like Jupiter due to its low mass.

"In a two-day orbit, it's about 200 degrees Celsius too hot for liquid water. That tends to lead us to the conclusion that the most probable composition of this thing is like the inner planets of this solar system - a nickel/iron rock, a rocky planet, a terrestrial planet," added Butler.