US Astronomers said they have found a new planet in orbit around a star 41 light years from Earth, BBC reported.

The discovery is a fifth planet orbiting the star 55 Cancri, a double or binary star in the constellation of Cancer.

Astronomers have already found more than 250 planets outside the solar system and the team behind the latest discovery have found more than anyone else.

The new planet is a gas planet about 45 times the mass of the Earth and if it has a rocky moon or moons around it then theoretically astronomers could support liquid water.

"There is an intriguing, mysterious gap between the fourth planet out around 55 Cancri and a Jupiter-like planet that is far away," a California University professor said.

"In that gap, we don't know what there is. Our current technology would be able to detect big planets like Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter. We don't see any of them. So if there are any planets there, they must be smaller, the size of the Earth," he added.

Of course, none of these planets can actually be seen - the astronomers use tiny wobbles in the movement of the star to detect the presence of planets tugging on the star as they encircle it.

But you can see the star itself - 55 Cancri - easily, with only a pair of binoculars, at the right time of year and with a clear night sky.

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