Source: ESO Science Release eso1047
Artist’s impression about the super-Earth exoplanet orbiting the nearby star GJ 1214.
Image credit: ESO/L.Calçada
The atmosphere around a super-Earth exoplanet has been analysed for the first time by an international team of astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The planet, which is known as GJ 1214b, was studied as it passed in front of its parent star and some of the starlight passed through the planet’s atmosphere. We now know that the atmosphere is either mostly water in the form of steam or is dominated by thick clouds or hazes. The results will appear in the 2 December 2010 issue of the journal Nature.(read more)
