New York: In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have identified a rocky exoplanet outside our solar system that potentially harbors life due to its atmosphere. Named 55 Cancri e or Janssen, this celestial body is approximately 8.8 times more massive than Earth and boasts a diameter roughly twice that of our home planet.
55 Cancri e : Super-Earth
Described as a “super-Earth”, this rocky world is smaller than Neptune and orbits perilously close to a star slightly dimmer and less massive than our sun, completing an orbit roughly every 18 hours.
Janssen revolves around Copernicus, also known as 55 Cancri A, the brighter component of a binary star system situated approximately 41 light-years away from Earth. Copernicus stands out as one of the earliest stars identified to host exoplanets, with each of its five orbiting bodies exhibiting unique characteristics.
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This groundbreaking revelation was made possible through observations conducted with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
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Atmospheric Super-Earth
Infrared observations conducted by two instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope have provided evidence of a substantial atmosphere enveloping 55 Cancri e. Although inhospitable, this atmosphere may be continuously replenished by gases emanating from a vast magma ocean.
According to Renyu Hu, a planetary scientist affiliated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, who spearheaded the study, “The atmosphere is likely rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide but can also contain other gases such as water vapor and sulfur dioxide. The current observations cannot definitively determine the atmospheric composition.”
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Potential Inhospitability
Despite its intriguing attributes, 55 Cancri e is deemed uninhabitable due to its extreme temperatures, rendering liquid water—an essential element for life—as unattainable.
While previous discoveries of exoplanet atmospheres primarily involved gaseous planets, the identification of a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere marks a significant advancement in exoplanetary exploration as facilitated by the James Webb Space Telescope.
