This was reported by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), as reported by Ukrinform.

The newly discovered planet is located 218 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.

Kepler-138e is smaller than the other three and is further away from its star. It orbits its star in 38 days.

However, the nature of this additional planet remains an open question as its orbit passes near the inner boundary of the system’s habitable zone and this world is not transitive, which prevents astronomers from determining its details at this time.

Astronomers have also discovered that the nearby exoplanets Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d may be composed largely of water.

It was also noted that water was not directly detected in Kepler-138c and d, but comparing the sizes and masses of the planets with models of other planets, astronomers came to the conclusion that a significant fraction – up to half – of their volume. It consists of materials lighter than stone, but heavier than hydrogen or helium. The most likely of these candidate materials is water.

“We used to think that planets slightly larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like magnified versions of Earth, and that’s why we called them super-Earths. However, now these two planets, Kepler-138c and d, are quite different in nature. We’ve shown that they’re very large, and that a large part of their volume is probably water.” at the University of Montreal.

As reported by Ukrinform, a group of researchers from the University of Montreal (Canada) previously discovered a new exoplanet named TOI-1452 b, thanks to NASA’s TESS telescope.

Photo: NASA