GJ1214b, shown in this artist’s view, is a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth. New observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show that it is a water world enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere. GJ1214b represents a new type of planet, like nothing seen in our solar system or any other planetary system currently known. The planet was discovered by the ground-based MEarth Project in 2009.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Aguilar (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)