GJ1214b, a new class of planets that were first discovered in 2009 known to have water, and the scientists dubbed as Waterworld. The planet is beratmosfir thick, steamy, and very hot. Size is smaller than Uranus, but larger than the Earth.
Zachory Berta from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and his colleagues see where Waterworld with NASA's Hubble telescope. "GJ1214b not like the planet that we know so far," said Zachory. "This planet has a lot of water."
Scientists estimate the diameter of 'Waterworld' reach 2.7 times Earth's diameter and weighs almost seven-time. Unlike the Earth orbiting the sun once a year, Waterworld orbiting the red-dwarf star every 38 hours. Planet GJ1214b within 1.3 million miles (about two million km) from the red-dwarf stars, which means extremely hot temperatures that barely reaches 450 degrees Fahrenheit (about 232 degrees celsius).
Waterworld is the result of the discovery of MEarth Project led by David Charbonneau of the CFA. David and his team first present the results of a study entitled "A super-Earth transiting a nearby low-mass star" in 2009.
In 2010, scientists CFA Bead Jacob and his colleagues stated that they have examined the atmospheric 'Waterworld', and reported that the planet was probably made of water. But there is another possibility - that the planet is shrouded in mist, like that surrounding Saturn's moon, Titan.
To be sure, Zachory and his colleagues used the Wild Field Camera 3 (WFC3) from the Hubble telescope to observe the planet as it passes in front of its star. Starlight filtered through the planet's atmosphere, thus giving the instructions related to its gas composition.
The scientists are more inclined to claim that the planet's atmosphere is filled with water vapor, not fog. Density calculations also show that GJ1214b planet has more water than the Earth. This means that the internal structure is very different than the Earth.
"The temperature and pressure will form exotic materials such as 'hot ice' or 'water superfluid', substances that are totally foreign to our everyday lives," said Beth.
Given its proximity to Earth, it is likely there will be follow-up observations using the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be launched later this decade. Meanwhile, the research results Zachory and his colleagues have been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.
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