NASA announced that the exoplanet called “55 Cancri E”, located at a distance of 41 light years from the Earth, is one of the 5 planets rotating around the Sun, in the constellation of Cancer “55 Cancri”.
Four more planets, called “55 Cancri B (Galileo), C (Brage), D (Lipperge) and F (Harriot), were found in the orbit of the star in question.
The planet, which is about twice as much and slightly denser than the Earth, is classified as a “super -earth”, like the rocky planets of the solar system.
Although the planet is called the “Rocky”, it was noted that its surface probably consists of molten and boiling magma due to its remoteness of 2 million 253 thousand kilometers from “55 Cankri” in the center of the star system.
One side of the planet is always turned to the star
Due to the gravitational attraction of the star, only one side of Janssen is turned to the star, so on one side is always day, and on the other – night.
According to data obtained using the now invalid NASA spitzer space telescope, there is an atmosphere on 55 Cancri E, consisting of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and the researchers examined the possibility that the planet has a thin cover of evaporated rocks rich in elements such as silicon, iron, aluminum and calcium.
surface “55 Cancri E” is colder than it should be
Analyzing the data of the near infrared chamber (NIRCAM) and the average infrared tool (MIRI) JWST, the researchers tried to find out the structure of the atmosphere, measuring the difference in light refraction when the planet passes past and behind the star, which is called the “secondary eclipse.”
The surface of the planet is relatively cold and its temperature should be 2,200 degrees Celsius, if the planet had no atmosphere or a thin bedspread from the evaporated breed.
“Miri data showed a relatively low temperature – about 1540 degrees Celsius,” says Renya Hu, an employee of the NASA (JPL) reactive movement in California and the leading author of the study. This suggests that energy dissipates from the day to the night, most likely due to the atmosphere rich in volatile substances. “
Researchers believe that gases covering “55 Cancri E” are not the first atmosphere of the planet, that the first atmosphere was destroyed by the warm and intensive radiation of the star, and the current atmosphere is secondary, which is constantly replenished at the expense of the ocean of magma.
“This indicates the presence of an atmosphere containing an oxide or carbon dioxide that absorbs part of the world,” says JPL employee Aaron Bell -Aruf, one of the co -authors of the study, noting that less light gets into the telescope compared to NIRCAM data.
Scientists argue that the study of “55 Cancri E” and its atmosphere can give information about the early conditions of the existence of the Earth, Venus and Mars, which in the past were covered with magmatic oceans.
The study was published in the journal “Nature”.