Science matters. Wonder matters. You matter.<\/strong> Super-Earth exoplanets are unlike any planets in our own solar system. They\u2019re larger and more massive than Earth but smaller than Neptune. Those found so far were in orbits close to their stars. But on April 24, 2025, an international team of researchers said super-Earths can exist as far from their stars as the gas giants are from the sun in our solar system. That\u2019s based on a recent discovery of a new super-Earth with an orbit similar to Saturn\u2019s, our sun\u2019s 6th planet. The result means that super-Earths must be more common in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, than scientists had thought.<\/p>\n Why didn\u2019t we know before? It\u2019s easier to detect planets orbiting close to their stars than those that are farther out. This includes super-Earths. So, until now, more close-in super-Earths were found. But many wondered if super-Earths could also reside in larger orbits. We now know the answer is yes<\/em>. The team of researchers that detected a super-Earth with a Saturn-like obit dubbed it OGLE-2016-BLG-0007.<\/p>\n Lead author Weicheng Zang at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said:<\/p>\n We found a \u2018super Earth\u2019 \u2013 meaning it\u2019s bigger than our home planet but smaller than Neptune \u2013 in a place where only planets thousands or hundreds of times more massive than Earth were found before.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in the journal Science<\/em> on April 24, 2025.<\/p>\n Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA): Astronomers Find Far-flung \u201cSuper Earths\u201d Are Not Farfetched cfa.harvard.edu\/news\/astrono\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 AAS Press Office (@press.aas.org) 2025-04-24T23:54:50.490Z<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The astronomers found the planet using microlensing data from the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). Microlensing is when an object, such as a planet or another star, passes in front of a background star. The gravity of the foreground object amplifies the light coming from the star. Astronomers can use that increase in brightness to help find faint planets. Three telescopes \u2013 in Chile, South Africa and Australia \u2013 were a part of the discovery.<\/p>\n The data provide new clues about how colder planets, those farther from their stars, form. Co-author Shude Mao at Tsinghua University and Westlake University in China said:<\/p>\n The current data provided a hint of how cold planets form. In the next few years, the sample will be a factor of four larger, and thus we can constrain how these planets form and evolve even more stringently with KMTNet data.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s an exciting result, especially since microlensing is difficult. Co-author Richard Pogge at Ohio State university said:<\/p>\n Finding a microlensing star event is hard. Finding a microlensing star with a planet is hard-squared. We have to look at hundreds of millions of stars to find even a hundred of these things.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The discovery of this new super-Earth is part of a larger study the astronomers conducted. The study compared the masses of many exoplanets with the stars they orbit. The results \u2013 including the super-Earth discovery \u2013 suggest that super-Earths are common in the outer regions of planetary systems as well as the inner regions. Which means, of course, that they are common overall throughout our galaxy. As co-author Jennifer Yee at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory \u2013 which is part of the Center for Astrophysics \u2013 said:<\/p>\n This measurement of the planet population from planets somewhat larger than Earth all the way to the size of Jupiter and beyond shows us that planets, and especially super-Earths, in orbits outside the Earth\u2019s orbit are abundant in the galaxy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And since our solar system doesn\u2019t have any super-Earths, this also means that many planetary systems are distinctly different from our own. Co-author Youn Kil Jung at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute added:<\/p>\n This result suggests that in Jupiter-like orbits, most planetary systems may not mirror our solar system.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Notably, the study also suggests that super-Earths are just as common as Neptune-sized planets. The findings provide new clues about both super-Earths and exoplanet formation in general. As Pogge noted:<\/p>\n We\u2019re like paleontologists reconstructing not only the history of the universe we live in but the processes that govern it. So helping to bring both of those pieces together into one picture has been enormously satisfying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Super-Earths are enigmatic worlds. Generally, they are thought to be rocky, like Earth, but larger and more massive. Evidence suggests they tend to have thinner, more Earth-like atmospheres than mini-Neptunes, which have deep hydrogen atmospheres. Some might have global oceans, with no continents. Or oceans hidden beneath crusts of ice, much like Europa or Enceladus. And others might be weirder<\/em>, so-called \u201ceyeball planets.\u201d LHS 1140 b could be one of these, with a circular ocean surrounded by ice, making it look like a giant eyeball.<\/p>\n Bottom line: The discovery of a super-Earth orbiting farther from its star than Saturn orbits the sun suggests that super-Earth exoplanets are common in our galaxy.<\/p>\n Source: Microlensing events indicate that super-Earth exoplanets are common in Jupiter-like orbits<\/p>\n Via Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian<\/p>\n Via Ohio State University<\/p>\n Read more: Eyeball ocean world? Webb reveals an intriguing super-Earth<\/p>\n Read more: Super-Earths may have long-lasting oceans<\/p>\n <\/div>\n
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Super-Earth exoplanets are surprisingly common<\/h3>\n
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Microlensing reveals new exoplanet<\/h3>\n
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Super-Earth exoplanets are common<\/h3>\n
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Planetary systems unlike our own<\/h3>\n
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Enigmatic and weird worlds<\/h3>\n