This Is Why You Must Never Try And Colonize A Super-Earth Planet

“Although it’s fascinating to know that rocky planets — and hence, possibly life — existed so long ago, it would be absolutely foolhardy to go looking for life on the worlds that we call “super-Earths.” Once you get to be about twice as massive as Earth, or just about 25-30% larger in radius than our planet, you’re no longer rocky with only a thin atmosphere, but are overwhelmingly likely to be Neptune-like, with a full fledged large envelope of hydrogen, helium, and other light gases.

Unless you’re close enough to a star to boil your entire atmosphere away, leaving only an exposed planetary core, these worlds that we’ve called “super-Earths” for years are more like mini-Neptunes, or as astronomer Jessie Christiansen poetically calls them, “Neptinis.” If you want to colonize another planet, look for one with a surface you can land on. That means, unless you’ve got your sights set on a boiled-off planetary core, to steer clear of the super-Earths. Even if you make it down to the surface, you won’t last long under those crushing atmospheric conditions!”