Super Earths and Exoplanets

 

we explore further afield from our home planet, we learn there are not only other systems, but many other planets in these systems. There are people who look to these for another earth and for alien life.

Planets outside of our solar system are called exoplanets.

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Just as our solar system has planets of different sizes and types, planets in other systems are varied in size and composition.

To date, we have found 3,242 systems with planets, many with multiple planets, bringing the number of exoplanets we know of to 4,395.

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Planets are categorized by their mass. Any planet with a mass larger than earth without being 14 times higher in mass is considered a super-earth. 

The designation doesn't speak to its composition or whether it would be a friendly place for us humans to live. It only tells us the comparative mass of an exoplanet.

Recently, NASA discovered a new super-planet naming it TOI-561b.

TOI-561b travels around its sun twice as fast as we travel around ours. So it experiences two days in the time we experience one.

Life is unlikely to exist there as the temperature on it is 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yet, it is exciting to keep discovering more and more systems and planets. Perhaps, one day, we'll find one more compatible with life on our earth,