Astrophysicists from Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany have identified a possible source of unusual signals coming from the volcanic planet 55 Cancri e in the constellation Cancer, located 41 light-years from Earth. To work published In the scientific journal Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (EPA).
55 Cancri e belongs to the class of super-Earths. The planet is 1.8 times larger than Earth and almost eight times larger. It is very close to its parent star (less than 2% of the distance from the Earth to the Sun) and the temperature on its surface varies between 2427 °C during the day and 1127 °C at night.
Since the discovery of the “hellish” planet in 2004, astronomers have periodically recorded strange pulses of light emitted by the celestial body, sometimes during so-called transits as it passes behind a star.
According to scientists, signals from 55 Cancri e may be due to the process of destruction and renewal of the atmosphere. Volcanoes on a lava-covered world periodically emit hot carbon gas, creating an atmosphere. But it is then blown away by the solar wind and strong radiation from the star, and then the cycle repeats.
Researchers believe that instability in the planet’s atmosphere could explain the strange transit signals. When a planet is in its “bald” stage without an atmosphere, it emits no visible light. However, when the atmosphere is exposed, both visible light and all radiation emitted from the surface appear in the transit signal.
Scientists plan to test their hypotheses by examining 55 Cancri e using the James Webb Space Telescope, which can measure atmospheric temperature and pressure. This will help to better understand the nature of the gas shell of the “hellish” planet.
Earlier astronomers simulated A planet capable of pushing the Earth and the solar system out.