For the first time , astronomershave detected gasesin the atmosphere of a super Earth , a satellite larger than our own but humble enough to be stony . The suitably named “ 55 Cancri e ” is a broiling hellscape of a Earth , totally inhospitable to life as we have a go at it it . And yet , the milestone represents an important dance step toward the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar organisation .
That ’s because , with thenext generation of powerful space telescopes , astronomers plan to habituate similar technique to decode the atmosphere of smaller , cooler planets . What we find could recite us whether our cosmic vicinity is devoid of life or brim with world - corresponding real - acres .
But first , countenance ’s talk about 55 Cancri e , because this satellite is both nous - numbingly weird and historically pregnant . way of life back in 2004 — five age before the Kepler distance scope set out spotting extrasolar worlds by the dozens—55 Cancri e was one of the first exoplanets humanity ever found , using the old - shoal radial speed method acting . It was also among the first potentially rocky worlds orbiting a main sequence star ( a star like our Sun ) .
That ’s where the exoplanet ’s similarity to our Blue Marble end . Orbiting close enough to its parent whizz to give it an 18 minute class , 55 Cancri vitamin E is a searing 2,000 degrees Celsius on its aerofoil . Whilewe’re still not only sure what it ’s made of,55 Cancri eastward ’s apparently high denseness has led to some strange hypothesis about its composition over the years — from hypothesis that it ’s a liquified ball of jumper cable to fantasies about a effervescent earthly concern of solid rhomb .
Now , using new processing proficiency on data from the Hubble Space Telescope , astronomers are bring in us even more insights into the existence so different from our own that it ’s already broadened our persuasion of the cosmos . Results published today in The Astrophysical Journal bespeak that 55 Cancri e ’s aura contains atomic number 1 and He , with possible hints of H cyanide . If these results are confirmed with the next multiplication of space telescopes , suppose study co - author Jonathan Tennyson , “ It would support the possibility that this planet is indeed carbon rich and a very alien place . ”
While it ’s fascinating to ponder the thousand ways we could exit on a major planet like 55 Cancri e , the subject of exoplanet atmospheres could eventually assist us find a humans not so different from our own . Our telescope are n’t yet powerful enough to sniffle the air of jumpy , Earth - sized planet in the not - too - hot , not - too - stale habitable zone , but a pipeline of raw deputation , beginning with the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018 , will get us there .
In the death , if it takes a hundred liquified lead and cynaide worlds before we discover a nerveless bumpy major planet with water and oxygen , I ’d say that ’s well deserving the effort .
[ The Astrophysical Journal ]
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