A small, rocky, not to mention bloody hot, planet has been discovered orbiting a distant star.

Reports today say it was discovered by the French space telescope Corot (left).

The Chinese are coming ... just like legendary author Arthur C. Clarke predicted 27 years ago.

Astronomers have reported discovering an amazing 'double helix nebula' near the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Okay, so it was about two and a half years ago, but some of us are a bit slow on the uptake and only just found out about it. Why didn't someone call? It's a 'double helix nebula' for crying out loud.

While it still doesn't even have a cool name yet, the planet HD 189733b which orbits a distant star is playing a big part in astronomers' search for life out in the universe.

No, it's not an eye staring back at you ... Somewhere in the bottom right corner of what is actually a massive ring of red space dust is a planet - in fact, the first outside of our own solar system to ever be photographed.

One of my favorite novels of all-time is the second in Arthur C Clarke's Space Odyssey series, 2010. It wasn't a bad movie either, released in 1984, but the book really took the time to 'explore' the heavenly body at the centre of the series, Europa.