A team of scientists that discovered the exoplanet were quoted by the USA Today online news as saying that the planet LHS 1140b was believed to be a rocky “Super-Earth.”
According to the scientists, the exoplanet sits right in the middle of its solar system’s habitable zone-the orbital region where it is neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist.
An exoplanet or extra-solar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun.
Specifically, 2,098 planets in 1,342 planetary systems, including 509 multiple planetary systems exist as at March 24, 2016.
“the joint exercise revealed a small dim star circled by a small tubby planet, nearly seven times more massive than Earth and probably made in good part of rock" The scientists said
“Such rocky world seems a better bet for hosting life than do the puffy gas planets orbiting other stars".
“The temperature is very mild and similar to what earth experiences today; that means the potential for liquid water on the planet’s surface.’’
They said astronomers had found roughly 20 Earth-sized planets that might support liquid water, adding that many were so far away that it would be a challenge to get to know them.
Over 2000 exoplanets have been discovered since 1988.
To date, more than 3,500 exoplanets have been discovered in over 2,600 planetary systems.
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