In space, found a planet with an atmosphere
Bizarre “planet diamond” 55 ATP in the constellation of Cancer has a certain kind of atmosphere, despite the fact that its surface is red-hot, several thousand degrees Celsius.
“We have long debated the question: if this “planet diamond” on Earth and Venus, with an atmosphere, or on mercury, which air jacket is missing. We now have pretty conclusive evidence that the latter theory is closer to reality than the first,” said Renyu Hu, a planetary scientist from the jet propulsion Laboratory, NASA
Exoplanet 55 Cnc e is one of five planets star 55 in the constellation Cancer (Cnc 55 or 55 Cancri), located 40 light years from Earth. This star is slightly inferior to the Sun in mass and size. Previous studies of the spectrum of 55 Cnc have shown that carbon in its composition two times more than oxygen. So, it should be characteristic and its planets.
The mass of the planet 55 Cnc e is two times greater than the Earth, and it is located so close to its sun that the temperature on its surface reaches 1.6 thousand degrees. Computer simulations conducted in 2011, showed that super-earths 55 Cnc e is composed of graphite and diamond, some amounts of carbides and silicates, and a large iron core, and diamonds accounted for a third of the substance of the planet.
Last year, scientists discovered another unusual feature of this “planet diamond”- turned out to be that she always looks at the stars on one side, so that the surface of the hemisphere 55 Cnc e had to be almost completely melted and heated to temperatures exceeding 2300 degrees Celsius. This discovery, he recalls Hu, NASA gave scientists the first real opportunity to test whether the atmosphere at this unusual planet or not.
The atmosphere and the oceans, as the scientists explain, are one of the main carriers of heat in the Earth and other planets with air and water claddings. Ocean currents and winds in the troposphere, help to keep the temperature on the Earth’s surface at the same level on either hemisphere, warming the planet in the dark, and taking “extra” heat during the day.
Accordingly, if 55 Cnc e is no atmosphere, then the temperature difference between its “Sunny” and “dark” hemispheres is very large, and if available it will not be so pronounced. Guided by these ideas, the researchers analyzed data collected during observations of 55 Cnc e with the infrared telescope “Spitzer” in the past year.
This analysis revealed a few interesting new and interesting features of “planet diamond”. First, scientists are not able to find bright spots on a heat map of 55 Cnc e, indicates the absence at its surface “lava lakes” and suggests that it is unlikely to be melted.
Second, the range of temperatures between the hemispheres of the “diamond” was not as great as originally predicted by the scientists – the “dark” side of 55 Cnc e were only 900 degrees Celsius colder than it “the sun” half. It pointed to the fact that the planets do have an atmosphere, whose composition is still a mystery to scientists.
Further observation of cosmic “diamond” as hope of Hu and her colleagues, will enable us to reveal the composition of the atmosphere of 55 Cnc e and to understand how this planet managed to lose its air envelope in such extreme conditions. The answer to this question, according to planetary scientists, help us understand how they arise and evolyutsioniruet planet similar to Earth.
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