Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun astronomy Any extrasolar rocky planet several times larger than Earth, especially such a planet detected as it transits its sun.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • That's big enough to qualify it for the astronomical label "super-Earth" but still quite small by exoplanet standards.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2012

  • More than 50 new alien planets - including one so-called super-Earth that could potentially support life - have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory ESO. alien planets includes 16 super-Earths, which are potentially rocky worlds that are more massive than our planet.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • "They hit a rocky body that is at least the size of the giant asteroid Ceres, so something called a super-Earth," Lisse said.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The researchers estimate that the planet, called GJ 667Cc, is at least 4.5 times as massive as Earth, which makes it a so-called super-Earth.

    Breaking News: CBS News 2012

  • The researchers estimate that the planet, called GJ 667Cc, is at least 4.5 times as massive as Earth, which makes it a so-called super-Earth.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2012

  • More than 50 new alien planets - including one so-called super-Earth that could potentially support life - have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory ESO.

    FOXNews.com foxnewsonline@foxnews.com 2011

  • This planet is most likely a massive version of the Earth – a so-called "super-Earth."

    Ripped to Shreds, Exoplanet Suffers Painful Death | Universe Today 2010

  • The disk of planetary material and the embedded super-Earth should be detectable with currently available telescope facilities.

    Ripped to Shreds, Exoplanet Suffers Painful Death | Universe Today 2010

  • Or, a civilization in a super-Earth imagining that the levels of radiation we tolerate here will SURELY kill any complex life form, and so life can only develop on massive planets with soupy atmosphere.

    If the Earth is Rare, We May Not Hear from ET | Universe Today 2010

  • This artists' rendition shows a super-Earth, or low mass exoplanet, orbiting close to its parent star.

    Second Smallest Exoplanet Found | Universe Today 2010

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