News Excerpt:

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected the best evidence to date for the existence of an atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet.

More about News: 

• The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has observed the hot rocky exoplanet 55 Cancri e, a super-Earth orbiting a star 41 light-years from Earth.
• Its orbit is just 2.25 million km from its host star so close that the planet’s surface is likely molten. 
• The planet is twice as big as Earth, making it a “super-Earth.”
• Previous studies have hinted at the presence of an atmosphere on 55 Cancri e, rich in volatile gases like nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. 
• But astronomers could not rule out that the planet’s proximity to its star means that its atmosphere was stripped away long ago, except for a shroud of vapourised dust from the evaporation of the molten rock.
• JWST’s (Near Infrared Camera) NIRCam and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) instruments can detect subtle changes in the light as the planet orbits the star.
• The first sign that the planet could have an atmosphere came when astronomers realised the planet was much cooler than expected.
• Earlier estimates suggest 55 Cancri e’s dayside should be about 2,200°C – nearly half the surface temperature of our Sun. 
• Instead, the MIRI data shows the temperature is “only” about 1,500°C.
• Energy is being distributed from the dayside to the nightside, most likely by a volatile-rich atmosphere,
• The spectroscopic technique is based on seeing which wavelengths of light are absorbed as the planet passes in front of the star. 
• The evidence of a dip in the spectrum between 4 and 5 microns less of this light suggests the presence of an atmosphere containing carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, which absorbs these wavelengths of light.
• The primary atmosphere would be long gone because of the high temperature and intense radiation from the star. 
• The secondary atmosphere is continuously replenished by the magma ocean. 
• Magma is not just crystals and liquid rock; there’s a lot of dissolved gas in it.