Huge space breakthrough as scientists make incredible discovery on 1,800C red hot planet

To explain the results, the team considered if the magma ocean could circulate some heat, but without an atmosphere, the nightside would be solid, limiting flow away from the dayside.

A thin layer of rock vapour on the surface of the magma ocean is also possible, but on its own would have a much smaller cooling effect than observed.

In ‘The Astrophysical Journal Letters’, researchers say the results help explain the planet’s unusually low density, challenging the prevailing wisdom that relatively small planets so close to their stars cannot sustain atmospheres.

Co-author Dr Anjali Piette, from the University of Birmingham, said: “We really need a thick volatile-rich atmosphere to explain all the observations. Strong winds would cool the dayside by transporting heat over to the nightside.

“Gases like water vapour would absorb some wavelengths of near-infrared light emitted by the surface before they make it all the way up through the atmosphere.

“The planet would look colder because the telescope detects less light, but it’s also possible that there are bright silicate clouds that cool the atmosphere by reflecting starlight.”

One explanation for the planet’s low density was it could have a relatively small iron core and a mantle made of rock, not as dense as rock within Earth.

While the Webb observations provide compelling evidence for such an atmosphere, the question remains: how can a small planet exposed to such intense radiation hold on to any atmosphere at all, let alone one so substantial?

Co-author Tim Lichtenberg, from the University of Groningen, Netherlands, said: “We think there is an equilibrium between the magma ocean and the atmosphere.

“While gases are coming out of the planet to feed the atmosphere, the magma ocean is sucking them back into the interior.

“This planet must be much, much more volatile-rich than Earth to explain the observations. It’s really like a wet lava ball.”

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the origins of our universe.

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/2156280/huge-space-breakthrough-scientists-make