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This artist’s impression shows the Nu2 Lupi planetary system, which was recently explored by ESA’s exoplanet observer CHEOPS. Credit: © ESA _________________________________________________________________________ The exoplanet satellite hunter CHEOPS of the European Space Agency (ESA), in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is participating along with other European institutions, has unexpectedly detected a third planet passing in front of its star while it was exploring two previously known planets around the same star. This transit, according to researchers, will reveal exciting details about a strange planet “without a known equivalent.” The discovery is one of the first results of CHEOPS...

Scientists have accidentally discovered details about a "very exciting" planet orbiting a nearby star system, which is thought to contain more water than Earth.... ...It orbits a sun-like star around 50 light years away from us that is visible with the naked eye, has a mild atmospheric temperature and appears to contain a large amount of water. Researchers already knew that the planet was there because previous studies of the star, called Nu2 Lupi, showed that it had three planets orbiting it called b, c, and d. ...Using Cheops, researchers determined that planet d has a radius 2.5 times bigger...