New 'water world' planet GJ1214b discovered that could support new life
The new discovery is a super-Earth 2.7 times bigger than our planet, orbiting a red-dwarf star at a distance of two million kilometres.
It was initially observed in 2009, with astronomers believing that the gas around the planet may be a haze similar to the one seen on titan, one of Saturn's moons.
However, after further examination with the Hubble telescope, scientists established the make-up of GJ1214b is water-based, leaving them scratching their heads.
'GJ1214b is like no planet we know of. A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water,' said Zachory Berta, lead author of the study from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Its proximity to the star it orbits suggests temperatures there could reach 200 degrees C, which combined with the presence of water could result in life developing.
'The high temperatures and pressures would form exotic materials like "hot ice" or "superfluid water", substances that are completely alien to our everyday experience,' Mr Berta added.
Astronomers have never previously discovered a water-based planet, only ones made from rock, gas or in the case of Uranus and Neptune, ice.