Now, it’s not exactly Earthlike . . .
The Telegraph
Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics said they have identified an entirely new kind of planet, dominated not by rock, gas or other common materials, but water.
The planet is “a waterworld enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere”, they said in a statement, after scrutinising the planet with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
“GJ1214b is like no planet we know of,” astronomer Zachary Berta said. “A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water.”
GJ1214b was discovered in 2009 by the ground-based MEarth Project. Described as a “super-Earth”, it is about 2.7 times Earth’s diameter and weighs almost seven times as much.
Further studies in 2010 led to scientists suspecting that the planet, where the temperature is some 232 Celsius, was largely covered in water. This was confirmed by Mr Berta and his co-authors using Hubble to study the planet when it crossed in front of its host star.
Still . . . if there’s water . . . If we assume water is essential to life . . . What life-forms could live in hot water under high gravity? Anybody better at xenobiology than I care to speculate?
