Imagine entire worlds larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune scattered throughout our galaxy far more often than we ever imagined. This isn’t just a flight of fancy—it’s a stunning revelation from astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Their groundbreaking research is completely rewriting what we thought we knew about the Milky Way and the cosmic neighborhood we call home.
These so-called super-Earths are turning out to be some of the most common and diverse planets in our galaxy, challenging long-standing assumptions about planetary formation and distribution.
For years, super-Earths—planets bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune—were mostly found orbiting very close to their stars, baked in tight, scorching orbits. That led scientists to believe they were quite rare or even exotic. But this new study using advanced methods reveals that many super-Earths actually hang out much farther from their stars—roughly the equivalent distance from Jupiter to our Sun.
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