Scientists have discovered a rocky planet beyond our solar system with an atmosphere, a major finding in the search for habitable worlds. However, this newfound planet, 55 Cancri e, is far too hot to support life as we know it.
Nicknamed "Janssen," 55 Cancri e is a super-Earth, much larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. It orbits its star incredibly close, completing a revolution every 18 hours. This proximity subjects the planet to intense heat, with surface temperatures reaching a scorching 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to detect the presence of a thick atmosphere around 55 Cancri e. The atmosphere is likely composed of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide and may be replenished by gases erupting from a vast magma ocean on the planet's surface.
"The atmosphere is likely rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, but it can also have other gases such as water vapour and sulphur dioxide. The current observations cannot pinpoint the exact atmospheric composition," said planetary scientist Renyu Hu of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, the lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
The finding is significant because it demonstrates the capabilities of the James Webb Telescope in studying the atmospheres of exoplanets. While 55 Cancri e itself isn't hospitable, the research paves the way for the discovery of truly habitable worlds in the future.
"Indeed, this is one of the hottest-known rocky exoplanets," said astrophysicist and study co-author Brice-Olivier Demory of the University of Bern's Centre for Space and Habitability in Switzerland, using the term for planets beyond our solar system. "There are likely better places for a vacation spot in our galaxy."
