Tag Archives: rocky planets

This diamond exoplanet lost its atmosphere; then another one grew up

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers discovered that a scorching hot lava planet believed to be composed of diamond formed a second atmosphere after its star destroyed its first atmosphere. The planet, known as 55 Cancri e, is located about 41 light-years from the solar system and is almost twice as wide as… Read More »

James Webb Space Telescope delves deep into the mysteries of gas planets

It could be argued that one of the most confusing aspects of our solar system is the fact that not every planet is a nice, solid rock like Earth. Some are literally made almost entirely of gas. You can’t exactly “stop” anywhere on Jupiter unless you can squeeze through layers of gas and survive unreal… Read More »