However, according to the model developed by Li and his colleagues, many of the confirmed exoplanets that are between two to four times the size of Earth may in fact be water worlds. Whereas planets that fall into the former category are believed to be rocky, the latter ones are generally thought to range from super-Earths to Neptune-sized gas giants. Combined with mass and recent radius measurements from the Gaia mission, the team was able to develop a model of these planets’ internal structure. These exoplanet candidates can be divided into two size categories: those that have 1.5 times the radius of Earth, and those that average around 2.5 Earth radii. As they indicated, the Kepler mission has precisely measured the radii of over 4000 exoplanet candidates, along with their orbital periods and other parameters. These findings were based on data from the Kepler Space Telescope and Gaia mission, which were analyzed by an international team of scientists led by Dr Li Zeng – a researcher from Harvard University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. A new study suggests that planets that are many times the mass and radius of Earth could be water worlds. During a session titled “ The Role of Extreme Atmospheric Escape from Hot Exoplanets“, the team presented findings that indicated that water worlds may be more common than previously thought.Īrtist’s depiction of a waterworld. The research was the subject of a presentation titled “ Growth Model Interpretation of Planet Size Distribution“, which took place at the 2018 Goldschmidt Conference in Boston. These findings will have serious implications when it comes to the search for life beyond our Solar System.

During a recent scientific conference, a team of scientists presented new research that indicates that water is likely to be a major component of those exoplanets which are between two to four times the size of Earth. Essentially, scientists are now looking to determine the composition of exoplanets to determine whether or not they could support life.Ī key part of this process is figuring out how much water exists on exoplanets, which is essential to life as we know it. With more and more discoveries happening all the time, the focus of exoplanet research has begun to slowly shift from exoplanet discovery to exoplanet characterization. Ever since the first exoplanet was confirmed in 1992, astronomers have found thousands of worlds beyond our Solar System.

Planets compositions