A rocky planet has been finally detected by astronomers with an atmosphere.
Astronomers have for years been searching for rocky planets beyond the Solar System with atmospheres, which are thought to be essential for any possibility of life.
But this hellish planet – with a surface of apparently molten rock – offers no hope of being habitable.
Researchers said the planet is a “super-Earth” – a rocky world that is much larger than our planet but smaller than Neptune.
It orbits a dim star dangerously close and slightly less massive than our Sun, rapidly completing an orbit every 18 hours.
Using two instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope, infrared observations indicated the presence of a substantial atmosphere, possibly being continuously formed by gases escaping from a vast ocean of magma.
The atmosphere is probably rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, but it may also contain other gases such as water vapor and sulfur dioxide.
The planet, known as Janssen or 55 Cancri e, has a diameter that is roughly twice that of Earth and is 8.8 times more massive than Earth.
It orbits its star at one-twentieth the distance between Mercury, the innermost planet in our solar system, and the Sun.
As a result, its surface temperature is approximately 3,140 °F (1,725 °C/2,000 °K).
