(NLDO) - The nature of the mysterious planet named GJ1214b is very different from what was predicted.
James Webb, the world's most powerful space telescope developed and operated by NASA, has helped humanity discover a new type of planet called "super Venus".
Representative of this interesting planet type is GJ1214b, a world that was once mistaken for a super-Earth.
Planet GJ1214b, a super Venus - Graphic image: NAOJ
According to SciTech Daily, GJ1214b orbits its parent star GJ1214, located 48 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus.
Previously, this planet was discovered by predecessor telescopes but scientists mistakenly thought it was a super-Earth.
Surprisingly, new data from James Webb shows that the nature of this planet is not like a super-Earth.
An international study led by astronomers Everett Schlawin from the University of Arizona (USA) and Kazumasa Ohno from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has shown extremely high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the planet's atmosphere.
This is similar to the proportion of this gas on Venus. Carbon dioxide makes up 96.5% of Venus' atmosphere, while Earth's is only 0.04%.
This was revealed through a subtle signal of carbon dioxide that James Webb aimed to capture, which was then confirmed by scientists through atmospheric models.
Called "super Venus" because this planet is much larger than Venus. NASA estimates it has a mass 6 times that of our Earth.
According to scientists, this is a completely new type of planet, unlike anything in our solar system and unlike any known exoplanet.
"This discovery provides new insights into how planets and planetary systems form," concluded the study published in the scientific journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/nasa-chup-duoc-loai-hanh-tinh-hoan-toan-moi-196250122111516915.htm
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