Analysis finds evidence for many exoplanets made of water and rock around small stars

A new study suggests that many more planets may have large amounts of water than previously thought--as much as half water and half rock. The catch? All that water is probably embedded in the rock, rather than flowing as oceans or rivers on the surface. "It was a surprise to see evidence for so many water worlds orbiting the most common type of star in the galaxy," said Rafael Luque, first author on the new paper and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago. "It has enormous consequences for the search for habitable planets." Thanks to better telescope instruments, scientists are finding signs of more and more planets in distant solar systems. A larger sample size helps scientists identify demographic patterns -- similar to how looking at the population of an entire town can reveal trends that are hard to see at an individual level.