A “fly-to” the L 98-59 planetary system

This animation flies from Earth to the L 98-59 planetary system, 35 light-years away. It is home to four confirmed rocky exoplanets and a potential fifth which, if confirmed, would sit in the system’s habitable zone where liquid water could exist on its surface.

The planet closest to the star is around half the mass of Venus, making it the lightest exoplanet ever detected using the radial velocity technique, which was measured with the help of ESO’s VLT. Up to 30% of the third planet’s mass could be water, making it an ocean world.