Is an ocean of magma creating atmosphere on this 'Super Earth'? The possibility has scientists excited

Scientists havefound the best evidence to date for a rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system in a major breakthrough for humanity's expedition to find life outside Earth. The breakthrough was achieved by the researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, who detected an atmosphere surrounding 55 Cancri e, an exoplanet located about 41 light-years from Earth.

The international research was published in the journal Nature.

About 55 Cancri e: What is it?

55 Cancri e is one of five known planets that orbita sun-like star in the constellation Cancer.

It has a diameter nearly twice that of Earth and a density slightly smaller. Astrophysicists have classified the planet as a Super Earth. This means thatit is larger than Earth, smaller than Neptune, and similar in composition to the planets in our solar system.

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Brice-Olivier Demory, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Bern and member of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Planets said in an official statement: "55 Cancri e is one of the most enigmatic exoplanets. Despite enormous amounts of observing time obtained with a dozen of ground and space facilities in the past decade, its very nature has remained elusive, until today, when parts of the puzzle could finally be put together, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)".

James Webb is 'enabling a new type of science'

Renyu Hu from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who is lead author of the paper published in Nature, said, "Webb is pushing the frontiers of exoplanet characterisation to rocky planets."

"It is truly enabling a new type of science."

But an official NASA readout said that describing 55 Cancri e as "rocky"could leave the wrong impression.

"The planet orbits so close to its star (about 1.4 million miles, or one-twenty-fifth the distance between Mercury and the Sun) that its surface is likely to be molten — a bubbling ocean of magma. With such a tight orbit, the planet is also likely to be tidally locked, with a dayside that faces the star at all times and a nightside in perpetual darkness," it said.

Earlier studies of 55 Cancri e using data from NASA's now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope suggested the presence of a substantial atmosphere rich in volatiles like oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.

However, researchers could not rule out the possibility that the planet is bare except for some vapourised rock, rich in elements like silicon, iron, aluminium, and calcium.

"The planet is so hot that some of the molten rock should evaporate," explained Hu.

(With inputs from agencies)