LONDON: The Hubble Space Telescope may have discovered as many as 100 new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy. Hubble’s harvest comes from a sweep of thousands of stars in the dome-like bulge of the Milky Way. If confirmed it would almost double the number of planets known to be circling other stars to about 230. The discovery will lend support to the idea that almost every sunlike star in our galaxy, and probably the Universe, is accompanied by planets. Steven Beckwith, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, said: “I think this work has the potential to be the most significant advance in discovering extra-solar planetary systems.”