While the planet may be nearly double the size of Earth, initial observations and calculations indicate the planet is five times denser -- which could be consistent with a surface covered in a very deep ocean.
Further observations are needed as astronomers said the planet could also simply be a big rock with little or no atmosphere or perhaps a rocky planet with an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.If the planet is indeed a real-life "water world," water could make up 30% of its mass, according to researchers. That would be on par with watery moons in our solar system – Jupiter’s Ganymede and Callisto, or Saturn’s Titan and Enceladus – believed to hide deep oceans under shells of ice.
Living on this planet, covered in water or not, would feature relatively lightning-fast years as the planet orbits its sun every 11 days. NASA said that because the star it orbits is smaller and cooler, the planet receives about the same amount of sunlight as Venus does in our solar system. The exoplanet was discovered by a team from the University of Montreal, but the planet is in an excellent position for further examination by the new
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