Gliese 486b Shows Off an Amazing Atmosphere - The Cosmic Companion March 7, 2021
One super-hot world may provide us one of the best looks at atmospheres of more temperate worlds - here's why.
Gliese 486b is scorching hot, but its atmosphere is a dream for astronomers seeking to understand exoplanets
Burning at temperatures hot enough to melt zinc, a rocky planet orbits the star Gliese 486. Found just 26 light years from Earth, Gliese 486b glows at temperatures hovering around 430 degrees Celsius (800 Fahrenheit).
This world is a dream for astronomers seeking to understand the atmospheres of distant planets. Although Gliese 486b is far too hot to support life as we know it, this world could help astronomers better understand the atmospheres of other worlds, including those capable of supporting life.
“This is the kind of planet we’ve been dreaming about for decades. We’ve known for a long time that rocky super-Earths must exist around the nearby stars, but we haven’t had the technology to search for them until recently. This finding has the potential to transform our understanding of planetary atmospheres,” describes Dr. Ben Montet, astronomer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/gliese-486b-shows-off-an-amazing-atmosphere
Join us each week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion!
Upcoming guests:
This week: March 2: (s4/e9): Dr. Elisabeth Newton, astronomer at Dartmouth College, talking about her discovery of three super-Earths in the TOI 451 system.
March 16: (s4/e11): NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON! We will talk with the world’s best-known astrophysicist about his new book, Cosmic Queries, the drive for science, Carl Sagan, and more!
Here’s a sneak preview of our interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson:
March 23: (s4/e12): Dr. Lawrence Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek, talks about his new book, The Physics of Climate Change.
Remember - (VIP members see all episodes a day early!)
For more details on space and astronomy news, please visit: thecosmiccompanion.net or thecosmiccompanion.com.
Thanks for reading, donating, and sharing!
- James