Scientists Discover Rocky Planet 'Super-Earth' With Atmosphere Outside Solar System
Imagine a planet, that is much larger than Earth and has an atmosphere which could mean that there could be life! For the first time, scientists have discovered a rocky planet outside our solar system, that could hold life.?The planet -- 55 Cancri e or Janssen, is about 8.8 times more massive than Earth, with a diameter about twice that of our planet.?
Super-earth 55 Cancri e
Scientists said that the planet is a "super-Earth" is a rocky world smaller than Neptune - and it orbits perilously close to a star dimmer and slightly less massive than?our sun, rapidly completing an orbit every 18 hours or so.
Also read:?What Is Super-Earth, A Planet More Massive Than Earth
Janssen orbits a star named Copernicus, or 55 Cancri A, the brighter of a binary pair of dwarf stars located some 41 light-years from Earth. Copernicus was one of the very first stars discovered to host exoplanets, and each of the five orbiting it is special in its?own?way.
The discovery was made using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
Super-earth with atmosphere
Infrared observations using two instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope indicated the presence of a substantial - if inhospitable - atmosphere, perhaps continuously replenished by gases released from a vast ocean of magma.
"The atmosphere is likely rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, but can also have other gases such as water vapor and sulfur dioxide. The current observations cannot pinpoint the exact atmospheric composition," said planetary scientist Renyu Hu of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, lead author of the study.
Also read: 'Super-Earth' Orbiting Our Sun's Closest Star 6 Light Years Away
Could be inhospitable
"The planet cannot be habitable," Hu said because it is too hot to have liquid water, considered a prerequisite for life.
All of the previous exoplanets found to have atmospheres were gaseous planets, not rocky ones. As Webb pushes the frontiers of exoplanet exploration, the discovery of a rocky one with an atmosphere represents progress.
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