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M dwarfs, the most prevalent form of star in the cosmos, have planets that resemble Earth, but they do not seem to have any atmosphere at all. The quest for extraterrestrial life may be profoundly altered as a result of this revelation.
This conclusion implies that many planets circling these stars lack atmospheres and are consequently unlikely to support life because M dwarfs are so common.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters provides a full account of the investigation that resulted in the discovery of the atmosphere planet GJ 1252b.
In a day on Earth, this planet makes two orbits around the star. GJ 1252b is somewhat bigger than Earth, and because Earth is far closer to its star than the Sun, it is much hotter and less habitable.
The Earth also loses some of its atmosphere over time from the Sun, but due to volcanic emissions and other carbon cycling processes, that loss becomes largely unnoticeable and helps to replenish what was lost. , the near-stellar planets cannot always replenish the lost amount.
“The radiation pressure on the star is so great, enough to blow the planet’s atmosphere out,” says Michelle Hill, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside, and co-author of the study.
In our solar system, this is the fate of Mercury. There is an atmosphere, but it is very thin and consists of atoms blown off the surface by the sun. The extreme heat of the planet causes these atoms to escape into space.
To confirm that GJ 1252b has no atmosphere, astronomers measured the planet’s infrared radiation because light was blocked during a secondary solar eclipse. This type of eclipse occurs when a planet passes behind a star, blocking the planet’s light and the reflected light from the star.
Radiation has revealed the planet’s scorching daytime temperatures. This is an estimated 2,242 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt all the gold, silver, and copper on Earth. The heat, combined with the assumed low surface pressure, led researchers to believe there was no atmosphere. The scientists came to the conclusion that GJ 1252b cannot support an atmosphere even with the massive amount of carbon dioxide that is capable of storing heat.
There may be 700 times as much carbon on this planet as there is on Earth, but it still lacks an atmosphere. It builds up first before subsiding and eroding. Stephen Kane, a research co-author, said. The possibility that planets near to M-type dwarfs will have their atmospheres anchored is further diminished by the fact that they frequently experience more flares and activity than our Sun. “maybe the condition of this planet could be bad omen for worlds further away from these kinds of stars.” Study it.