In 2005, astronomers first discovered a super -Earth, a category of extrasolar planets with a mass up to ten times that of Earth. Now, they have found out a little more about them, since they have been able to analyze for the first time the gases of 55 Cancri e, which is twice our world in size and eight times its mass.
Experts believe that a third of this space object, located 41 light years away, is made up of diamonds , an already striking fact, but does it have an atmosphere? And if so, is it similar to the terrestrial one? The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal and conducted by British scientists, reveals that 55 Cancri e is indeed covered by a layer of gases, but without traces of water vapor.
Instead, hydrogen and helium predominate . This, added to the temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius that must reign on its surface (it is very close to the star it orbits), make this exoplanet absolutely inhospitable to life . The research conclusions are based on data sent by the Hubble Space Telescope, which has measured the spectrum of the star orbited by 55 Cancri e, whose wavelengths alter when the ex-world passes in front of it.
This indirect footprint has allowed them to deduce not only its richness in hydrogen and helium, but also the existence of traces of hydrogen cyanide, apparently a clue that carbon – in the form of diamond – is indeed abundant in this super-earth.
