Eight new planets have been discovered in the 'Goldilocks' zone of their stars, orbiting at a distance where oceans and life could exist.

　　科学家已经发现了8个新的可能有海洋和生命的行星。它们位于这些行星的恒星的适居带内。

　　The discovery doubles the number of small planets less than twice the diameter of Earth which are believed to be in the habitable zone of their parent stars.

　　该发现使直径不到地球两倍、被认为位于它们母恒星可居住带内的小行星数量翻了一倍。

　　Among these eight, astronomers say there are two that are the most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets to date.

　　天文学家说，在这8个行星中，有两个是迄今已知所有外行星中和地球最像的。

　　'Most of these planets have a good chance of being rocky, like Earth,' said lead scientist Dr Guillermo Torres, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US.

　　美国剑桥大学哈佛-史密森天体物理学中心首席科学家吉列尔莫·托雷斯博士说：“这些行星中的大多数都很可能像地球一样有岩石。”

　　The two most Earth-like planets, known as Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, both orbit red dwarf stars that are smaller and cooler than the sun.

　　那两个最像地球的行星分别是Kepler-438b和Kepler-442b。它们都绕红矮星轨道运行。这些恒星(红矮星)不仅比太阳小，还比太阳冷。

　　With a diameter just 12 per cent bigger than Earth, Kepler-438b has a 70 per cent chance of being rocky, the scientists have calculated.

　　科学家估计，直径只比地球长12%的Kepler-438b有岩石的几率是70%。