Astronomers have discovered that a scorching hot lava planet, that is believed to be composed of diamond, grew a second atmosphere after its star had destroyed its first atmosphere.
The discovery was made using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
According to NASA, the planet, called as 55 Cancri e or Janssen, is about 8.8 times more heavier than Earth, with a diameter about twice that of our planet in a nearby solar system.
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The super-Earth planet orbits its star at one-25th the distance between our solar system’s innermost planet Mercury and the sun.
The 55 Cancri e is among the few rocky planets outside our solar system with a significant atmosphere, wrapped a blanket of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
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The exoplanet is 41 light years away from the Earth and it circles its star Copernicus so closely that it has permanent day and night sides.
A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles.
“We measured the thermal emissions from this rocky planet, and the measurement indicates that the planet has a substantial atmosphere,” Renyu Hu, a member of the team behind this discovery and a researcher at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), told Space.com.
“This atmosphere is probably supported by outgassing from the rocky interior of 55 Cancri e, and we think this is the first measurement of a secondary atmosphere on a rocky exoplanet. It is very exciting,” added Renyu.
Gases from its magma oceans may play a key role in holding its atmosphere steady.
In 2016, the Hubble space telescope had determined that the atmosphere of 55 Cancri e contained hydrogen and helium.
The surface temperature of 55 Cancri e is about 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit (1,725 degrees Celsius/2,000 degrees Kelvin).
The boiling temperatures on this planet can reach as hot as 4,200 degrees Fahrenheit (2,300 degrees Celsius) which means that a life is not possible on it.
“55 Cancri e is so close to the host star that it receives a lot of heat in the form of radiation. That heat keeps the temperature on the planet very high,” Hu said. “At these temperatures, everything on the planet is molten. If it’s rock, it’s molten lava, which helps the outgassing process that supports a secondary atmosphere because of a molten surface.”
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Published: 11 May 2024, 08:15 PM IST