We didn't expect to find planets bigger than Jupiter.

BBC: From counting to characterising exoplanets

However, just like the other planets, we haven't seen or tested the atmospheres of any of these planets, so whether they're habitable remains theoretical.

CNN: 3 new planets could host life

Dr. THOMMES: We had have ordered a few percent of systems that where the giant planets at least resemble the architecture in our own system, as to whether we would then have terrestrial planets in the habitable zone, the chances of that actually aren't too bad, because the terrestrial planets, we think, they kind of sprout like mushrooms pretty much anywhere.

NPR: What Makes Our Solar System Special?

We certainly didn't expect to find small planets which are almost entirely gas.

BBC: From counting to characterising exoplanets

T, that would encompass gassy giant planets.

ECONOMIST: Twinkle, twinkle, giant planet

We don't really see the true distribution of these planets.

NPR: What Makes Our Solar System Special?

Nor will astronauts really be able to talk to anyone, either -- at least not on Earth -- mainly because of a 44-minute communication delay between the Blue and Red planets, "which means you can't have a nice chat with your kids, " said Kanas.

CNN: Mars on the brain? Red Planet pioneers to face cosmic mind trip

How often the Universe has planets truly like the earth - true earth twins, planets the size of the earth, rocky planets with a surface that supports liquid water - well, we don't have that number yet, but I'm optimistic we'll figure it out.

BBC: From counting to characterising exoplanets

If so, promising planets may have been sterilized by solar flares or frozen in the past, which wouldn't be reflected in present-day habitable-zone calculations.

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Finding new planets is old hat to Geoff Marcy from the University of California at Berkeley, but that doesn't make his latest find boring.

NPR: Astronomers Find Planet with Similarities to Earth