One of the most dramatic extrasolar planetary discoveries of the year was announced this week; unfortunately, with little fanfare. Planet hunters uncovered a Neptune-sized planet orbiting a nearby star. This planet is close enough to its parent star that it’s extremely hot - above 250 degrees Celsius. And yet the intense pressure from gravity forces large quantities of liquid water into solid ice.

The planet was discovered orbiting the nearby M-dwarf star GJ 436 using the planetary transit technique. This is where a sensitive instrument called a photometer measures the periodic dimming and brightening of a star as a planet passes in front. In August 2006, astronomers captured the first hint of the planet using the Observatoire Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (OFXB) observatory in St-Luc Switzerland. It was then confirmed using the Euler 1.2m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile.