A team from the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) at the University of Montreal has discovered an "ocean" planet, i.e. a planet potentially completely covered with water (not necessarily salty).
The planet TOI-1452 b is located outside our solar system, in orbit around one of the two small stars forming a binary planetary system in the constellation of the Dragon, some 100 light-years from Earth, the best known blue planet.
According to the work of researchers at the University of Toronto reported in udemnouvelles, "the fraction of the planet's mass in water could be as high as 30%, a fraction similar to that of some natural satellites in the solar system such as Ganymede and Callisto, moons of Jupiter, or Titan and Enceladus, moons of Saturn."
"The exoplanet TOI-1452 b is one of the best candidates for the title of ocean planet that we know of so far," says Charles Cadieux, a PhD student and leader of the team that made the discovery. The planet's radius and mass suggest a lower density than would be expected for a planet that, like Earth, would be formed mostly of metals and rock."
More details on the University of Montreal news site » [in French]
