Scientists may have discovered an Earth-like planet. Let me tell you about one of them.

There is more important work for the James Webb Space Telescope. A team of astronomers at the University of Montreal are hoping to use it to study a newly discovered planet outside our solar system (an exoplanet) that could be almost entirely covered in water.

Astronomers believe TOI-1452 b, larger and heavier than Earth, could be a “sea planet” covered by a thick layer of water, much heavier than Earth. That’s because, although about 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, water actually makes up less than 1% of its mass.

On this newly discovered planet, water could make up between 20 and 30% of its mass.

TOI-1452 b appears to have a temperate climate given its distance from the star it orbits, but don’t get your space suit ready just yet. We probably won’t be moving there anytime soon. Although astronomers say it’s close, close to them is still about 100 light-years from Earth.

USA TODAY Editor-in-Chief Carli Pierson spoke with Ph.D. Student Charles Cadieux, who led the team in discovering this potential new “water world”. Your discussion has been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Tell me about your discovery.

In search of life, we are always interested in temperate planets. We have announced the discovery of a new exoplanet, different from other planets in our solar system. We have gas planets like Jupiter and rocky planets like Earth. We know that there is a new type of planet between rock and gas: this new exoplanet is one of them.

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Do you think humanity could eventually live on TOI-1452 b?

We do not have the opportunity to travel to other stars at short notice. We only have one world, one planet.

We don’t know the temperature there, but it’s not too hot, not too cold. There are many uncertainties about the composition of the atmosphere. That’s the next step. Even if we say the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), there is a chance that the surface temperature is much higher due to a greenhouse effect. But we don’t know that because we don’t know the atmospheric property. If you were on this planet, the surface would be all water.

The story goes on

We want to understand the origins of life: is there life outside of Earth? We are currently compiling a catalog of these interesting planets. Maybe we can find life in the future.

This could be a complete revolution. We have a chance to be the first generation of people to know if we are alone in the universe to find markers that are connected to life.

Do you think there is intelligent life out there?

Nobody knows the answer. It’s easy to say yes because it’s less scary.

It could be that life disappears but remains as a microbe and never evolves into anything intelligent. If we run through the numbers, it is estimated that there are about 300 billion stars in our own galaxy. And then there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe.

There are many variables, but looking at the numbers it seems to make sense that we’re not alone. But then again, there may only be one planet that has life.

How many planets like this have researchers found?

It’s very unique. We only know about five ocean planets. 25 years ago we didn’t know any exoplanets. We now know over 5,000.

We think that the entire planet (from TOI-1452) could be covered with water everywhere. Most likely (this exoplanet) is 20-30% water, the rest would be rocks and metals, just like Earth.

But it’s a really different kind of planet, not just because it contains water, because for a molecule, water is very common. Even in our own solar system there are moons that have a lot of water, like (those of) Jupiter and Saturn.

What would you like to tell laypeople about your work and this discovery in particular?

It is important to show how unique our planet is and how we should protect it. We have nowhere else to live.

More from Carli Pierson:

“Fairytale Science”: Instead of reviving an extinct species, stop killing it

‘There is no place that is said to be safe.’ In Gaza, a father fears what will happen to his daughter.

Biden’s student loan forgiveness is a good start, but it falls short for borrowers like me

Carli Pierson, a New York attorney, is a USA TODAY Opinion Writer and a member of the USA TODAY Editorial Board. Follow her on Twitter: @CarliPiersonEsq

You can read various opinions from our board of contributors and other contributors on the Opinions home page on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily opinion newsletter. To reply to a column, send a comment to [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This new possible “oceanic planet” has really got astronomers excited.