Astronomers have finally found a rocky planet Atmosphere It was named 55 Cancri e, or Janssen, after years of searching for rocky planets with atmospheres outside our solar system that indicate the possibility of life.
But the planet that was discovered seems to be decaying, as its surface is made up mostly of molten rock, which eliminates any hope of habitation in it.
A world of molten rock
Yesterday, Wednesday, in a study published in the scientific journal “Nature,” researchers revealed that the discovered planet “looks like a very large Earth… a rocky world much larger than Planet Earth“But it is smaller than the planet Neptune.”
“Jansen” is swimming in a dangerous orbit close to a star slightly less light and smaller than our Sun, because it very quickly completes an orbit around the star every 18 hours or so, which according to scientists.
As reported by Reuters, infrared observations using two instruments aboard the James Webb telescope showed a large atmosphere, but it does not provide the conditions for life as a vast ocean of molten rock continue to replenish the atmosphere almost completely. .
In this regard, Renew is a scientist, explained spiral stars At NASA’s Mission Laboratory, “the atmosphere appears to be full of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, but there may be other gases such as water vapor or sulfur dioxide.
Renew goes on to state that “life is not possible on the planet,” because its temperature is too extreme for liquid water to exist, which is its basic condition. life.
On the other hand, the telescope data did not show the density of the atmosphere, but Renew suggested that it could be equal to the density of the Earth’s atmosphere or closer to the atmosphere of Venus, which is a toxic atmosphere and the highest density in our solar system.
On Earth, the atmosphere warms the planet, brings in oxygen for breathing, protects against solar radiation and creates the pressure necessary for liquid water to remain on the surface. planet
Amazing scientific progress
All planets previously discovered with atmospheres outside our solar system were gaseous, not rocky planets, and with the expansion of the James Webb Telescope to study planets outside our solar system, the discovery of a rocky planet is with an atmosphere representing a remarkable progress.
Among the characteristics of “Jansen” is that the mass is 8.8 times that of the Earth, and its diameter is twice that of the Earth.
The discovered planet revolves around its star at a distance between one and 25 of the distance between the planet Mercury and the Sun, and as a result, the temperature of its surface reaches 1725 degrees Celsius.
It is possible that only one side of the planet is in front of the sun while the other side is immersed in complete darkness, as happens with the moon and the Earth, since the inhabitants of the Earth can see only one always side of the moon.
The planet is located in the Milky Way galaxy, 41 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cancer.
