Assuming the planet's parent star is normal red dwarf, the brightening is best explained if the planet is about 13 times the mass of the Earth and orbiting at the distance of the asteroid belt in our own Solar System.
Given the small number of objects observed and similar determinations already obtained for other star systems, these super-Earths might be relatively common.
Since the planet was not observed directly, significant uncertainty remains in its defining attributes, and future research will be aimed at better understanding this intriguing system.
