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Originally Posted by ring
Spinning magma core?
which deflects the crud that would strip its atmosphere?
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Gravity. So long as a planetoid has sufficient mass, it will develop an atmospheric envelope due to gravity holding the necessary gasses to the surface. This planet will be a gas giant, meaning it has a much larger and thicker atmosphere than our little rock. This, again, is primarily due to mass.
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Originally Posted by casual user
it seems that these dicoveries are happening in rapid succession. at this pace, they might have a candidate for new earth pinned down by the time i die
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Unlikely. Our current technology allows us to detect planets that are sufficiently massive, but rocky Earth-like planets are a whole 'nother issue.
Stars a very big and very bright. Planets are not. Our current technology allows us to detect the very minute oscillations caused by very large planets. For small planets, this effect is negligible. Also, we can detect the minute shadow cast by a very large planet passing in front of a star, but a planet the size of Earth passing in front of even a very small and dim star would be a bit like a mosquito flying in front of a searchlight. And then, even if we do find a planet and devise a way of determining it's composition to decide whether it would be suitable for life (also currently impossible), we'd still have to figure out a way to get there in a timeframe that isn't longer than all of human existence to date. Barring some sort of technological windfall, expecting this to happen within the next century is wildly optimistic.