Exoplanets are the hundreds of planets outside of our solar system that have been catalogued by astronomers since the 1990s.
While some of planets are large and gaseous, others are small and rocky, much like our own planet. However, a recent investigation indicates that some of these exoplanets may be denser
and contain more water than previously believed, which has significant implications for the existence of extraterrestrial life.
Exoplanets can be classified as either Neptunian, gas giant, super-Earth, or terrestrial. Direct observation of these planets is difficult, let alone determining their composition.
With a telescope pointed at a star and detecting the light as a planet swings by, transit photometry is one of the most reliable techniques for finding exoplanets.
Rafael Luque from the University of Chicago and Enric Pallé from the Universidad of La Laguna in Spain, however, were interested in determining the density of certain exoplanets.