Atmosphere of midsize planet revealed for first time: NASA
India TV NewsIn a first, scientists have identified the detailed chemical "fingerprint" of a planet between the sizes of Earth and Neptune to uncover clues about its nature and origin, using NASA's Sptitzer and Hubble space telescopes. The planet orbits very close to the star and is far less massive than Jupiter -- 318 times Earth's mass -- but has managed to accrete the primordial hydrogen/helium atmosphere that is largely 'unpolluted' by heavier elements," said Bjorn Benneke of the University of Montreal in Canada. "We expected an atmosphere strongly enriched in heavier elements like oxygen and carbon which are forming abundant water vapour and methane gas, similar to what we see on Neptune," said Benneke. "Instead, we found an atmosphere that is so poor in heavy elements that its composition resembles the hydrogen/helium-rich composition of the Sun," Benneke said.
History of this topic
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