Scientists have accidentally discovered details about a "very exciting" planet orbiting a nearby star system, which is thought to contain more water than Earth.
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.
They were initially discovered by the European Southern Observatory in Chile in 2019 and follow-up observations confirmed that Nu2 Lupi is one of only three naked-eye stars that have more than one planet orbiting them.
Delrez and the team had initially set out to observe only planets b and c around Nu2 Lupi, but were amazed when they accidentally detected the transit of planet d as well, according to a press release.
Planets can be detected orbiting other stars because of a process known as transit photometry, in which scientists peer at a star to detect any dips in brightness.
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