NASA is looking into a new class of planets

Exoplanets named Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d orbit a star 218 light-years from Earth, found in constellation Lyra.

The discovery came as 2014 Kleper data caught scientists’ attention, prompting them to revisit the “twin” planets to understand their formation.

According to University of Montreal astrophysicist and co-author of the new research, Bjorn Bencke, the three researchers initially thought the planets wider than Earth were giant balls of metal and rock, just like enlarged versions of Earth, which is why they called them “Super-Earths.” .

Scientists have shown that the two planets, Keplers 138c and ed, are slightly different: a significant part of all their sizes consist only of Water🇧🇷 This was the first time they observed these planets, which can be defined as “water worlds”.

Despite the new discoveries, astronomers still cannot reveal whether these planets are mainly composed of water, that is, they have not yet found liquid directly in the planets. planets🇧🇷

However, the researchers calculated their respective densities: Both are about three times the size of Earth, but with only twice the mass. The scientists were surprised by the result, as they thought they were different.

The low density indicates that more than half of it is made up of something heavier than hydrogen and helium, but so much lighter than rock that scientists thought they would encounter while searching for the twin planets.

The researchers reported that there is a possibility that the formations of the two planets consist of water. Scientists suggest that the two planets may be similar to the icy moons from Solar System the outside.

Both can hide a lot of water under the ice sheet and above a rocky core, but the planets can be much warmer than the moons and with less ice.