The stunning discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting a small star in the galaxy opens up the most promising hunting ground so far for life beyond the Solar System. <br/><br/>Researchers said, all seven roughly match the size and mass of our own planet and are almost certainly rocky, and three are perfectly perched to harbour life-nurturing oceans of water.<br/><br/>Most critically, their proximity to Earth and the dimness of their red dwarf star, called Trappist-1, will allow astronomers to parse each one's atmosphere in search of chemical signatures of biological activity.<br/>'<br/>A scientist at the University of Cambridge, co-author Amaury Triaud said that they have made a crucial step towards finding life out there and now they have the right target. The Trappist-1 system, a mere 39 light years distant, has the largest number of Earth-sized planets known to orbit a single star.<br/>'<br/>It also has the most within the so-called "temperate zone" — not so hot that water evaporates, nor so cold that it freezes rock-solid. The discovery adds to growing evidence that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, may be populated with tens of billions of worlds not unlike our own- far more than previously suspected.<br/> <br/>