Astonishing illustration shows super-Earth GJ 1214b

The super earth has an atmosphere that created in it a swollen sphere that precedes the body of the planet in the front and follows it in the back. Scientists study how light changes to determine the composition of the atmosphere it enters.

Previous studies of GJ-1214b provided findings similar to those of GJ 436b - featureless spectra that lead researchers to conclude that the atmosphere could be predominantly water vapor or hydrogen.

Its atmosphere of GJ 1214b is the first to be classified, its location is 40 light years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus, the huge rocky planet surrounds its star 70 times closer than Earth orbits the sun. The distance between the Earth and the sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers).

The Hubble Space Telescope obtained a deeper view of the planet's atmosphere, which was considered definitive evidence of high clouds covering the planet. Surrounding clouds block views of lower cloud layers or the surface.

Hubble revealed no chemical signs in the clouds, but the high-precision instruments allowed the researchers to rule out water vapor, methane, nitrogen, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide in the clouds.

Models of the planet predict clouds made of potassium chloride or zinc sulfide, both of which could withstand the extremely high temperatures predicted to be found in atmospheres.

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Crédits: HUBBLE / NASA

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