Hundreds of extrasolar planets – also called exoplanets – have been detected so far, and an intense worldwide research effort is ongoing to unveil the details of these distant worlds. Some of the latest discoveries have been made by EU-funded scientists.
Newly discovered worlds are described as Earth-like planets, depending on the distance between the exoplanet and the host star. This distance is only half of the picture. The other half is determining if an exoplanet has an atmosphere and what its contents are.
Further information: Hot Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-like planets