A super-Earth that may have an atmosphere has been found orbiting a red dwarf star

A group of astronomers has discovered another "super-Earth" planet orbiting a red dwarf some 40 light-years away. The group found the planet using a fleet of ground-based telescopes that are just slightly larger than those used by regular amateur backyard astronomers.

This super-Earth is most likely too hot to sustain life, however the discovery opens a path for other Earth-like planets to be found in life-friendly locations using basic ground-based technology.

Super-Earth's are planets that have masses of between one and ten times that of the Earth's. This new super-Earth, GJ1214b, is about 6.5 the mass of Earth, with its parent star, GJ1214 being an M-type star one-fifth the Sun's size.

GJ1214 is small and only 4,900 degrees F and has a luminosity of just three-thousandths as bright as the Sun. However, the super-Earth is orbiting it at only 1.3 million miles, so the temperature on the planet is roughly 400 degrees F. This temperature is most likely too hot to sustain life, but due to the red dwarf's dimness, it is still cooler than any other known transiting planet.

The super-Earth's radius is about 2.7 times that of the Earth; since the planet crosses in front of its star, the astronomers were able to determine its measurement. This makes GJ1214b one of the smallest transiting worlds to be discovered so far. The planet's density suggests that it is composed of about one-fourth rock and three-fourths water and ices. Also, an interesting possibility is that there are hints of an atmosphere made of gases.

Zachory Berta, a graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), was the first to spot the planet's hints among the data. He says that this is a waterworld, despite its hot temperatures; but it is the most Earth-like of all the other exoplanets, being cooler and smaller than them.

Berta also said that some of the water on the planet should be in the form of Ice VII (seven), which is a crystaline form of water existing at 20,000 times the pressure of Earth's sea-level atmosphere.

GJ1214b was discovered using the MEarth Project, which is a group of eight identical 16-inch-diameter RC Optical Systems telescopes, that are currently monitoring a pre-selected list of 2,000 red dwarf stars. This telescope system is similar to those used by many amateurs, so almost anyone can actually study this new super-Earth using their own telescope, said David Charbonneau of CfA and lead author and head of MEarth.

Astronomers now plan to directly discern the new super-Earth's atmosphere using space-based technology such as the Hubble Space Telescope. Charbonneau states that since GJ1214b is so close to Earth, Hubble should be able to detect the planet's atmosphere and determine its composition. Even-though this atmosphere won't be hospitable to life as we know it, it will be the first to be confirmed for a super-Earth planet, he concludes.

This new finding is being published in journal Nature's December 17th issue.

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