A relatively small planet orbiting a star not far from Earth may be made mostly of water, new observations show.

“This planet is the most Earthlike planet yet discovered,” comments Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley. The observations are reported in the Dec. 17 Nature. […]

The discovery comes on the heels of other exoplanet sightings, two of which may also be superEarths. All three newly found possible superEarths fall in a mass range between that of Earth and Uranus — a range not represented in the solar system. “This is completely unexpected,” says Greg Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz, a coauthor of the two papers reporting the other findings. “It tells us that planets really form very easily.”

Science News: SuperEarth found close by, may host water

(via Social Physicist)