The 'mini-Neptune' exoplanet found 48 light-years away doesn't resemble anything in our own solar system.
"The planet is totally blanketed by some sort of haze or cloud layer," research lead author and University of Maryland exoplanet astronomer Eliza KemptonKempton added that if GJ 1214 b indeed proves to possess a water-rich atmosphere, the exoplanet may have been a"water world" in its distant past, an exoplanet replete with large amounts of watery and icy material at the time of its formation.
GJ 1214 b is tidally locked, meaning it has a permanently star-facing"day side" and a perpetual"night side" that always stares out into space. Watching the planet as it disappeared behind itsand later emerged on the other side let astronomers see both its day and night sides and thus better detail its atmosphere.
This showed that dayside temperatures on the planet are as great as 535 degrees Fahrenheit , while temperatures on the night side of GJ 1214 b drop to 326 degrees Fahrenheit . "This is not a primordial atmosphere," Kempton said."It does not reflect the composition of the host star it formed around. Instead, it either lost a lot of hydrogen, if it started with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, or it was formed from heavier elements to begin with — more icy, water-rich material."
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