Sub-Neptune

Yeah

... ever confirmed, ever detected, and am I right in thinking sort of what's come from that is these sort of super Earths and, and sub-Neptune-

Yes

... exoplanets.

So K2-18b is a slightly different kind of planet than, than 55 Cancri.

So we think 55 Cancri is, like, this hot ra- um, mostly rocky planet, whereas K2-18b seems to be something we call a sub-Neptune.

So it is a slightly bigger planet, um, and we think it probably has a really, really thick atmosphere.

Um, it also is in the habitable zone of its star, so it's a, it's much colder than 55 Cancri.

Mm

... whether that gas is actually there or not.

Um, and, um, I was involved in a paper related to this planet where [laughs] one of the other alternative, um, sort of internal structure models for this kind of planet, for a sub-Neptune, is actually that it's got another magma ocean.

[laughs]

Exactly.

Or, uh, sub-Neptunes.

The observational methods we use, like the transit method, they heavily favor finding those massive planets because they block more light.

That makes sense.

It's about 70 light years away.

And it's a sub-Neptune planet.

So it's bigger than the Earth, smaller than Neptune, a few times more massive than the Earth.

Okay.

You could become a, a Neptune-like planet.

You become a sub-Neptune.

But if you reach that stage after the gas is gone, then you have a completely different outcome.

Maybe you just stay a rocky planet.