Hubble Reveals a New Class of Extrasolar Planet
ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012)
— Observations by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have come up with
a new class of planet, a waterworld enshrouded by a thick, steamy
atmosphere. It's smaller than Uranus but larger than Earth.
GJ1214b,
shown in this artist’s view, is a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star
40 light-years from Earth. New observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble
Space Telescope show that it is a waterworld enshrouded by a thick,
steamy atmosphere. GJ 1214b represents a new type of planet, like
nothing seen in the Solar System or any other planetary system currently
known. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Aguilar (Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics))
"GJ 1214b is like no planet we know of," Berta said. "A huge fraction of its mass is made up of water."
MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221103741.htm
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