International renowned academic journal "Nature" recently published a planetary science paper stating that Crab 55e (55 Cancri e), an exoplanet known as a "super-Earth" located about 41 light-years away from Earth, may have a thick atmosphere.
Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) indicate the presence of a gas layer around this planet. Previous observations of rocky planets either found no atmospheric evidence or only detected very thin atmospheres.
The paper describes Crab 55e as having a radius twice that of Earth and a mass 8.8 times that of Earth, orbiting a star with a mass smaller than the Sun. Previous observations of this rocky planet suggested the possibility of an atmosphere, but determining its extent and composition has been challenging.
To study the characteristics of Crab 55e, the paper's first author and corresponding author, Renyu Hu from the California Institute of Technology, along with colleagues, analyzed JWST observations of two secondary eclipses (when the planet passes behind the star). The spectra revealed a volatile atmosphere rich in carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide surrounding Crab 55e. Their research suggests that the planet's magma ocean sustains this atmosphere.
The authors of the paper note that there may be other explanations for their observational findings, thus recommending further observational studies to gain more insights into the atmosphere of Crab 55e and to uncover more about this exoplanet.
