quote:
Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
[b]
As for all the new planets we've found, They all are larger than jupiter, so it would be nearly impossible for them not to be gas giants.
Note that we don't know what the planets are like, other than their mass and orbit. It is just hard to see how a world bigger than jupiter could form as a rock or ice world.
All the planets are excessively huge because of the way they are found. We don't have the current ability to detect earth-size planets in general.
[b]
For a good site on extrasolar planets ( sums up the planets found and has art-work on what these worlds could look like) go to
http://www.jtwinc.com/extrasolar/
Actually the first planets ever found outside our solar system were earth sized planets, they are however not in orbit of a normal star, but orbit around a pulsar. this makes them easy to find, but it also means these planets would be completely inhospitable to life.
(follow the link to pulsar planets on extrasolar visions)