Japanese scientists have determined that a planet outside our solar system that most likely has a water-rich atmosphere. The planet, Gliese 1214b, is only 40 light years from Earth.
Discovered in 2009, Gliese 1214b is what’s known as a “super-Earth” – bigger than Earth but smaller than a gas giant. In this case, it’s about 2.7 times bigger than Earth.
Based on the original research after the discovery of Gliese 1214b, scientists were able to determine its mass, radius and density. But what still wasn’t known was the composition of the planet. Given the data, there were two major possibilities: first, that the planet was rocky, with a hydrogen atmosphere. The alternative is that the planet might be an “ocean world” comprised mostly of water.
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