The discovery of a planet in a star system just 100 light-years from Earth could be a new target in the search for alien life.
The TOI 1452b is larger in size and mass than Earth and is in the "habitable zone" where liquid water could exist on its surface.
"TOI 1452 b is one of the best candidates for an ocean planet that we have found to date," said Charles Cadieux, lead author and PhD student at the Université de Montréal. It's mass and radius suggest that it's not as dense as one would think for a planet made up of metal and rock.
The planet is thought to be very wet. It could be made up of 30 percent water by mass, which is more than the Earth's less than 1%.
There are clues in the data collected by the TESS space telescope. They used an instrument attached to the OMM to hone in on their target.
The researchers are hoping to get a hold of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which could prove to be essential to better understanding TOI 1452 b.
"As soon as we can, we will book time to see this strange and wonderful world," he said.
There is a world covered in water. The University of Montreal is located in Montreal, Quebec.
The researchers want to use the sun as a giant telescope to look for aliens.
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