![]() ![]() The technique studies radiation that has been transmitted through a planet's atmosphere. Transmission spectroscopy is a technique which allows researchers to know the chemical composition of the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets. The study said that GJ 1214b is an archetype sub-Neptune that has been observed using transmission spectroscopy to test the hypothesis that sub-Neptunes have hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. The "sub-Neptune" category of planets is the most common in the Milky Way galaxy.ĪLSO READ | Jurassic Era Giants Living In Seas Were Twice As Big As A Killer Whale: Study Why have telescopes other than Webb not been able to observe the planet clearly? The sub-Neptunes are distinguished from other planets through their hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that are a few per cent of the total mass of the planets. ![]() These planets, which have sizes greater than Earth but less than Neptune, are called sub-Neptunes. The authors noted in the study that no planets intermediate in size between the Earth and Neptune are found in the solar system, but these objects are found around several stars other than the Sun. ![]() The study, led by researchers at University of Maryland and University of Chicago was recently published in the journal Nature. The planet's atmosphere probably contains water in vaporised form. The mini-Neptune, called GJ 1214b, is a highly reflective world with a steamy atmosphere, and is too hot to harbour liquid-water oceans. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, also called Webb, has taken the clearest look yet of a 'mini-Neptune', a mysterious planet outside the solar system which other telescopes had not been able to observe clearly in the past. ![]()
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