Super-Earth

Move over TRAPPIST-1 – there’s an exciting new planetary system in town. Meet Kepler-385, home to seven Super-Earths that were just discovered in existing data.

Astronomers have analyzed the atmosphere of a large exoplanet and found that it could have liquid water – and so possibly life – on its surface. This new study adds weight to the idea that habitable exoplanets don’t have to be strictly Earth-sized.

Water is crucial to life as we know it, so it’s one of the key things astronomers look out for on exoplanets. And now, water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere of a potentially habitable exoplanet for the first time.

NASA’s TESS mission has been very busy lately, making many exoplanet discoveries. Now, the productive little satellite has made another important discovery – the closest super-Earth that’s potentially habitable.

NASA astronomers have managed to probe the atmosphere of GJ 3470 b, a planet unlike any in our solar system. It marks the first time for this kind of world, and could be a step towards identifying potentially habitable planets.

When scanning for potentially habitable exoplanets, astronomers look for similar conditions to Earth. Tiny, turbulent pulsars aren’t usually given a second thought, but a new study has calculated that these neutron stars could indeed host habitable planets – under very specific circumstances.

​​An international team of scientists has announced the discovery of a new “super-Earth” exoplanet that could represent our best chance of finding E.T. outside of our solar system.

​Using data collected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, a team of astronomers have produced the first ever heat map of an Earth-like exoplanet. The alien climate map paints a grim picture of a world scorched by its close proximity to its host star.

Scientists have for the first time analyzed the atmospheric composition of a distant planet roughly the size of our own, revealing a mix of hydrogen, helium and carbon-based molecules.

For the first time, astronomers have detected the transit of a super-Earth in front of a nearby Sun-like star, which could see ground-based telescopes more widely used in categorizing the growing numbers of exoplanets expected to be discovered in the next few years.

NASA has announced that the Kepler space probe has discovered two planetary systems that include three “super-Earths” in the "habitable zones” in two star systems that include an exoplanet that is the closest in size to Earth yet found.

A team led by Helmut Lammer at the Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have produced new models that indicates that some super-Earths may really be mini-Neptunes.