Can you ace this exoplanet quiz?

What makes an exoplanet a Super Earth?

A. It has liquid water on it surface

B. It’s more massive than Earth

C. It’s like Earth, but better

B. Super Earths are a class of rocky exoplanets with a mass slightly larger than Earth.

How many exoplanets have astronomers confirmed?

A. 15,000

B. 7,000

C. 20,000

D. 4,000

D. So far, various exoplanet surveys have discovered and confirmed 4,000 exoplanets, with thousands more awaiting confirmation.

What’s the most common type of exoplanet in the galaxy (that we know of)?

A. Super Earths

B. Hot Jupiters

C. Mini-Neptunes

D. Tiny Ice Worlds

C. Mini-Neptunes. These exoplanets are between the masses of Earth and Neptune, and they generally have a rocky core and a surrounding envelope of helium and hydrogen.

True or False: There’s an exoplanet where it rains rock.

A. True

B. False

C. It’s complicated

A. True. Exoplanet K2-141 b, orbiting a star 200,000 lightyears away, gets so hot that rock vaporizes, condenses, and rains.

True or False: There’s an exoplanet where it rains iron.

A. True

B. False

C. It’s complicated

A. Also true! Exoplanet WASP-76b’s surface temperatures reach up to 13,000 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning iron could be vaporized, condensed, and then rained out.