The compounds include water, methane and mixtures of the two. A large proportion of the planet's elements are slightly heavier than hydrogen. The planet's atmosphere also likely contains elements heavier than oxygen. The planet is located 40 light-years away, and is not too far from us, but a thick layer of haze blanketing it is the biggest obstacle for people on Earth attempting to study it. What elements are present in the planet’s atmosphere? The mini-Neptune has a high metallicity atmosphere which is blanketed by a thick and highly reflective layer of clouds or haze.Īccording to a statement released by the University of Chicago, the exoplanet is too hot to be habitable. Water is present on the dayside as well as nightside of the planet. Webb has obtained the spectra of the planet's atmosphere in mid-infrared wavelength, using the Mid-Infrared Instrument.

Since high-altitude aerosols are present in the atmosphere of GJ 1214b, the spectra measured by telescopes and observatories other than Webb are featureless.ĪLSO READ | James Webb Space Telescope Finds Three Debris Belts Around Nearby Young Star 'Fomalhaut': All About It How did Webb obtain the planet’s spectra? The technique studies radiation that has been transmitted through a planet's atmosphere. Transmission spectroscopy is a technique which allows researchers to know the chemical composition of the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets. The study said that GJ 1214b is an archetype sub-Neptune that has been observed using transmission spectroscopy to test the hypothesis that sub-Neptunes have hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. The 'sub-Neptune' category of planets is the most common in the Milky Way galaxy.ĪLSO READ | Jurassic Era Giants Living In Seas Were Twice As Big As A Killer Whale: Study Why have telescopes other than Webb not been able to observe the planet clearly? The sub-Neptunes are distinguished from other planets through their hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that are a few per cent of the total mass of the planets. These planets, which have sizes greater than Earth but less than Neptune, are called sub-Neptunes.

The authors noted in the study that no planets intermediate in size between the Earth and Neptune are found in the solar system, but these objects are found around several stars other than the Sun. The study, led by researchers at University of Maryland and University of Chicago was recently published in the journal Nature.

The planet's atmosphere probably contains water in vaporised form. The mini-Neptune, called GJ 1214b, is a highly reflective world with a steamy atmosphere, and is too hot to harbour liquid-water oceans. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, also called Webb, has taken the clearest look yet of a 'mini-Neptune', a mysterious planet outside the solar system which other telescopes had not been able to observe clearly in the past.

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