A new alien planet was discovered. The Super Earth named GJ 1214b is a steamy waterworld unlike any ever discovered. It is also quite near the third rock from the Sun at a mere 40 light-years away.
Zachory Berta, the study's lead author, said of the planet that was first discovered in December 2009: "GJ 1214b is like no planet we know of. A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water." The planet is covered in a thick, humid atmosphere.
The Super Earth is actually about 2.7 times the size of Earth and seven times as heavy. Its star is a red-dwarf, and it has a surface temperature of 446 degrees F, which would make it too hot to host human life, but other types of life could be living there, which is always one of the most interesting ideas about alien planets. This is something that star gazers dream of every night as they look out at the beautiful nighttime sky from Earth.
Berta said, "The high temperatures and high pressures would form exotic materials like 'hot ice' or 'superfluid water,' substances that are completely alien to our everyday experience." Wouldn't that be amazing to see?
Perhaps some day people or rovers from Earth will get the chance to further explore alien planets, and because GJ 1214b is so close, it could be a candidate for further exploration. In the near future, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which launches in 2018, will likely get a closer look at this Super Earth. What do you think they will find on this planet? Will it be proof of alien life? Perhaps.
Like this article? See more by Kate James at Gather.com