I’ll start with the bad news – there is (probably) no life on it. And the good news? We discovered it! So what? Using the James Webb Space Telescope, we discovered a sauna-like exoplanet located about 100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pisces. Such an interesting coincidence.
The planet GJ 9827 d is called a “super-Earth” and is about twice the size of our planet. Moreover, its atmosphere consists almost entirely of water vapor, which is the first direct evidence of the existence of a world with such peculiar conditions. So far, such planets have existed only hypothetically, and their discovery creates interesting prospects for all exoplanet research.
According to scientists, GJ 9827 d’s atmosphere is incredibly thick and rich in waterwhich is the direct reason for the high surface temperature – estimated at approximately 350°C. For comparison, the average temperature on Earth is around 15°C. For this reason, the planet’s atmosphere neither generates clouds nor has any distinct layers. The greenhouse effect, which is the “work” of ubiquitous water vapor, has created conditions there that rather exclude the existence of any forms of biological life.
For a long time, scientists have found traces of hydrogen in the atmospheres of exoplanets, but these were usually gas planets. However, GJ 9827 d is the first case of a rocky planet with an atmosphere rich in water vapor, without a clear dominance of hydrogen. So far, researchers have not been able to confirm the existence of such worlds. Earlier observations – such as those regarding the planets 55 Cancri e, GJ 486 b or LHS 1140 b – provided some clues, but it was the data from Webb that finally allowed us to confirm the discovery of the first representative of the “sauna planets” group.
Scientists used the transmission spectroscopy technique to study the exoplanet. It involves analyzing the starlight that passes through the atmosphere of exoplanets during their transit. Particles in the atmosphere absorb specific wavelengths of light, and analyzing these wavelengths allows us to determine which components dominate in it. The acquired data, combined with previous observations from Hubble, clearly confirmed the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of GJ 9827 d – and in such an amount that the researchers probably held their heads more than once.
It doesn’t take a genius to assess that a planet is unsuitable for habitation by known life forms, but paradoxically it opens up new opportunities for us in the search for exoplanets with conditions favorable to living organisms. Scientists are already planning further studies of rocky planets orbiting red dwarfs – the most numerous type of stars in our galaxy. Such research could bring us closer to discovering worlds with atmospheres favorable to life.
The discovery of GJ 9827 d may also help us determine what the mysterious planets between Earth and Neptune in size are made of, for which we have no equivalent in the solar system. No matter how you look at it, this is a very important discovery: even if there are no living organisms there. This is not the only thing we “fight” about in science. There are plenty of other questions we don’t know the answers to.
Source: antyweb.pl
