A rocky exoplanet outside Earth’s solar system may have an atmosphere, according to new evidence collected by NASA researchers.
The exoplanet, known as super-Earth TOI-561b, was discovered in 2020. According to NASA. Scientists have found that the planet is very hot and has a low density. It is about 1.4 times larger than Earth and revolves around the sun in about 11 hours. Its host star is similar to Earth’s sun in terms of size and temperature, but the exoplanet is 40 times closer to that star than Mercury is to the sun. NASA said in a press release. Observations indicate that the exoplanet contains a global magma ocean, and that it is surrounded by a thick layer of gas.
NASA said that the low density of the exoplanet surprised and puzzled scientists. It may have an unusual composition of planets in Earth’s solar system. It could also be surrounded by a thick atmosphere, which would not be expected on an exoplanet with these features. but James Webb Space Telescope Scientists helped collect data that showed that an unlikely scenario might be the case.
The researchers used the telescope’s near-infrared spectrometer to measure the exoplanet’s temperature. If the exoplanet had no atmosphere, scientists estimate its daytime temperature would be around 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit. But the spectrograph found that TOI-561b has a temperature closer to 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much colder than expected.
An artist’s concept shows what the hot exoplanet TOI-561 b and its star could look like based on observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories. / Image source: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralph Crawford (STScI)
NASA said that simply determining the temperature of the exoplanet does not confirm whether there is an atmosphere there. A magma ocean could cause heat to spread, or a thin layer of rock vapor could help cool the planet. But neither of these options is likely to explain the difference between measured temperatures and what scientists expected.
“We really need a thick, volatile atmosphere to explain all the observations,” said Anjali Peet, a researcher from the University of Birmingham in England and co-author of a study published on Thursday that detailed the discoveries.
The atmosphere would allow gases like water vapor to absorb some wavelengths of light, preventing the telescopic spectrometer from actually measuring them, Peet said. The exoplanet may also have bright silicate clouds that could reflect starlight to cool the atmosphere, Peet said.
Study co-author Tim Lichtenberg, a researcher from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said scientists suspect there may be some form of balance between the exoplanet’s atmosphere and magma ocean.
“At the same time as gases are leaving the planet to fuel the atmosphere, the magma ocean is sucking them back in,” Lichtenberg said. “This planet would have to be much more volatile than Earth to explain the observations. It’s really like a wet ball of lava.”
An artist concept shows what the thick atmosphere could look like above the vast magma ocean on the exoplanet TOI-561 b. / Image source: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralph Crawford (STScI)
Scientists will learn more about TOI-561b as they study the dataset collected by the Webb telescope after it observed the exoplanet for more than 37 hours. The work will include mapping the exoplanet’s temperature and finding out what its atmosphere might consist of.
“What’s really exciting is that this new data set opens up more questions than it answers,” said Joanna Teske, lead author of the study and a scientist at the Carnegie Earth and Planetary Science Laboratory.
Erica Kirk has one word for Candace Owens and she’s spreading conspiracy theories
Police have arrested former Michigan football coach Sherwin Moore after he was shot
The “Survivor” contestant is on a mission to prove his sister’s murder