Finally, rocky planet with atmosphere found 41 light years away
Astronomers have searched for years for rocky planets beyond our solar system with an atmosphere, a trait considered essential for any possibility of harbouring life. Well, they nally seem to have located one. But this hellish planet, apparently with a surface of molten rock, oers no hope for habitability.
Researchers said on Wednesday the planet is a "super-earth", a rocky world signicantly larger than our planet but 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.
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 sulphur dioxide. The current observations cannot pinpoint the exact
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