The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
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Super-Earth Has an Atmosphere, But Is It Steamy or Gassy?

  • The extrasolar planet GJ 1214b, shown here in an artist's conception with two hypothetical moons, orbits a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth.GJ 1214b has a radius of about 2.7 times that of the Earth and is about 6.5 times as massive, putting it squarely into the class of exoplanets known as super-Earths. Astronomers have confirmed that this alien world has a thick atmosphere, but can't yet determine whether the atmosphere is primarily hydrogen or a steamy soup of water vapor.

    The extrasolar planet GJ 1214b, shown here in an artist's conception with two hypothetical moons, orbits a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth.GJ 1214b has a radius of about 2.7 times that of the Earth and is about 6.5 times as massive, putting it squarely into the class of exoplanets known as super-Earths. Astronomers have confirmed that this alien world has a thick atmosphere, but can't yet determine whether the atmosphere is primarily

    hydrogen or a steamy soup of water vapor.

    David A. Aguilar (CfA)

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