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Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our solar system that may have conditions more suitable for life than our own and some of these orbit stars that may be better than even our Sun. A study, led by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and published in the journal Astrobiology, detailed characteristics of potential "superhabitable" planets, that include those that are older, a little larger, slightly warmer and possibly wetter than Earth. Life could also more easily thrive on planets that circle more slowly changing stars with longer lifespans than our sun. The 24 top contenders for superhabitable planets are all more than 100 light years away. However, Schulze-Makuch said the research could help focus future observation efforts, such as from NASA's James Web Space Telescope, the LUVIOR space observatory and the European Space Agency's PLATO space telescope. "With the next space telescopes coming up, we will get more information, so it is important to select some targets," said Schulze-Makuch, a professor with WSU and the Technical University in Berlin. "We have to focus on certain planets that have the most promising conditions for complex life. However, we have to be careful to not get stuck looking for a second Earth because there could be planets that might be more suitable for life than ours". There are at least 4,500 known exoplanets beyond our solar system. Habitability, however, does not mean these planets definitely have life, merely the conditions that would be conducive to life. Earth is around 4.5 billion years old but the researchers argued that the sweet spot for life is a planet that is between 5 billion to 8 billion years old. Size and mass also matter. A planet that is 10 per cent larger than the Earth should have more habitable land. "One that is about 1.5 times Earth's mass would be expected to retain its interior heating through radioactive decay longer and would also have a stronger gravity to retain an atmosphere over a longer time period," the researchers noted. Water is key to life and the authors argue that a little more of it would help, especially in the form of moisture, clouds and humidity. A slightly overall warmer temperature, a mean surface temperature of about 5 degrees Celsius (or about 8 degrees Fahrenheit) greater than Earth, together with the additional moisture, would be also better for life. Among the 24 top planet candidates, none of them meet all the criteria for superhabitable planets, but one has four of the critical characteristics, making it possibly much more comfortable for life than our home planet. "We have a great number of complex and diverse lifeforms, and many that can survive in extreme environments. It is good to have an adaptable life, but that doesn't mean that we have the best of everything," the authors wrote. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/supreme-court-defers-loan-moratorium-case-hearing-to-october-13-gives-rbi-and-the-government-another-week-to-file-additional-affidavits/articleshow/78487586.cms">Supreme Court defers loan moratorium case hearing to October 13 — gives RBI and the government another week to file additional affidavits</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tcs-shares-hit-record-high-board-to-mull-over-share-buyback-and-earnings-on-october-7/articleshow/78486980.cms">TCS rallies nearly 5%, shares hit fresh high — board to mull over share buyback and earnings on October 7</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/indusind-icici-rbl-axis-hdfc-kotak-mahindra-bank-share-price-and-other-stocks-surge-on-loan-moratorium-case/articleshow/78486360.cms">Relief rally in bank stocks continues as Supreme Court defers loan moratorium hearing to October 13</a>

Two dozen superhabitable planets identified —  some older, a little larger, slightly warmer and possibly wetter than Earth

Astronomers have discovered more than 100 new trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), minor planets located in the far reaches of the solar system. For the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, the researchers used data from Dark Energy Survey (DES), an international collaborative effort to map hundreds of millions of galaxies, detect thousands of supernovae, and find patterns of cosmic structure that will reveal the nature of the mysterious dark energy that is accelerating the expansion of our universe. The study also describes a new approach for finding similar types of objects and could aid future searches for the hypothetical Planet Nine and other undiscovered planets. "The number of TNOs you can find depends on how much of the sky you look at and what's the faintest thing you can find," said Gary Bernstein, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. Using the first four years of DES data, Pedro Bernardinelli from the University of Pennsylvania started with a dataset of seven billion "dots," all of the possible objects detected by the software that were above the image's background levels. He then removed any objects that were present on multiple nights - things like stars, galaxies, and supernova - to build a "transient" list of 22 million objects before commencing a massive game of "connect the dots," looking for nearby pairs or triplets of detected objects to help determine where the object would appear on subsequent nights. With the seven billion dots whittled down to a list of around 400 candidates that were seen over at least six nights of observation, the researchers then had to verify their results. "We have this list of candidates, and then we have to make sure that our candidates are actually real things," Bernardinelli said. To filter their list of candidates down to actual TNOs, the researchers went back to the original dataset to see if they could find more images of the object in question. Bernardinelli developed a way to stack multiple images to create a sharper view, which helped confirm whether a detected object was a real trans-Neptunian object. They also verified that their method was able to spot known trans-Neptunian objects in the areas of the sky being studied and that they were able to spot fake objects that were injected into the analysis. After many months of method-development and analysis, the researchers found 316 TNOs, including 245 discoveries made by DES and 139 new objects that were not previously published. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/two-new-planets-8-times-the-size-of-earth-could-support-life-and-theyre-right-next-door/articleshow/73288469.cms">Two new planets 8-times the size of Earth could support life — and they're right next-door</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/a-habitable-earth-sized-planet-discovered-but-its-sun-doesnt-set-for-over-two-weeks/articleshow/73133478.cms">Habitable earth-sized planet discovered but its Sun doesn't set for over two weeks</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/nasas-planet-hunter-uncovers-its-first-world-with-two-stars-1300-light-years-away/articleshow/73133158.cms">NASA's planet-hunter uncovers its first world with two stars 1,300 light-years away</a>

Over 100 new minor planets found at edge of solar system

<ul><li>Hygiea, classified as an asteroid so far, might actually be a dwarf planet. </li><li>The European Southern Observatory has been able to confirm that Hygiea has a spherical shape. </li><li>But, Hygiea is missing a large impact crater normally found on asteroids after they have broken off from the parent asteroid. </li></ul>The asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars is home to many asteroids and planets. Now European Southern Observatory (<a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1918/">ESO</a>) thinks one of the objects floating along the main belt might be the <keyword id="8270160" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="smallest-dwarf-planet">smallest dwarf planet</keyword> in our solar system — an asteroid known as Hygiea. Hygiea isn’t a new discovery but the fact that it meets the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) requirements to be classified as a dwarf planet is new. It orbits the Sun, and not another planet, so that rules it out from being a Moon. But unlike an actual planet, it hasn’t pushed away or pulled in any of the objects that are cluttering its orbit. ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) was able to capture a third detail that puts Hygiea in the running for a dwarf planet — it has just enough mass for its gravity to pull it together in a spherical shape. "Thanks to the unique capability of the SPHERE instrument on the VLT, which is one of the most powerful imaging systems in the world, we could resolve Hygiea’s shape, which turns out to be nearly spherical," said lead researcher Pierre Vernazza. Dwarf planets in the universe’s remnants When the big bang first happened and planets were formed, the asteroid belt basically contained whatever was left over. The clumps could have formed a planet but scientists believe that Jupiter’s gravity was so strong that the space objects continued to orbit the Sun instead, colliding every so often. These collisions led to bigger parent bodies breaking into smaller asteroids. Hygiea is supposed to be a part of a 7000 member family and it’s separation from the parent space object should have left a large impact crater — but it’s nowhere to be found. "This result came as a real surprise as we were expecting the presence of a large impact basin, as is the case on Vesta," says Vernazza. According to the team’s deductions, it’s possible that Hygiea’s parent asteroid collided into a large object between 75 to 150 kilometers wide and the resulting collision was so violent that it completely shattered it. Their study states that as the left-over pieces of the collision reassembled, Hygiea got its round shape — fulfilling the third parameter to be be classified as a dwarf planet. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/16-recently-discovered-exoplanets-could-offer-our-best-chance-of-finding-alien-life-outside-the-solar-system/articleshow/71397812.cms">16 recently discovered exoplanets could offer our best chance of finding alien life outside the solar system</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/a-ridiculous-yet-simple-animation-by-a-nasa-scientist-shows-how-long-it-takes-light-to-reach-pluto-if-you-plan-to-watch-it-take-a-day-off-work-/articleshow/67905830.cms">Pluto has a heart of ice that might not be so frozen after all</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/a-ridiculous-yet-simple-animation-by-a-nasa-scientist-shows-how-long-it-takes-light-to-reach-pluto-if-you-plan-to-watch-it-take-a-day-off-work-/articleshow/67905830.cms">A 'ridiculous' yet simple animation by a NASA scientist shows how long it takes light to reach Pluto. If you plan to watch it, take a day off work</a>

The smallest dwarf planet in our solar system was hiding in the asteroid belt

<ul><li>Astronomers at California Planet Search have found a <keyword id="438857" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-Planet">new planet</keyword> that's three times the size of Jupiter in the outer reaches of the universe.</li><li>It took twenty years of observations to determine the planet's 'highly eccentric' orbit which sling-shots itself around its star.</li><li>The planet dubbed HR 5138 is the first exoplanet to exhibit such behaviour.</li></ul>The outer reaches of the universe holds many mysteries. But scientists from <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/newly-discovered-giant-planet-slingshots-around-its-star">California Planet Search</a> discovered an exotic planet which has a wonky 'sling-shot' like orbit which gets close to its star around its star before swinging around and getting further away. <keyword id="122247" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Exoplanets">Exoplanets</keyword> aren't known for planets that 'slingshot' around their stars but the planet dubbed HR 5183 b, which is three times the size of Jupiter, in an exception to the rule. In fact, it was the planet's weird path that caught the attention of astronomers at the <a href="http://www.keckobservatory.org/weird-orbit/">Keck Observatory</a>. It paved the way for the discovery of other giant planets that might be behaving in a similar manner. Instead of going around in a flat circle, HR 5138 b has an <keyword id="1731000" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="elliptical-orbit">elliptical orbit</keyword> that isn't equidistant from its star on all sides. 
 <div type="image" title="orbit lit" msid="70959666" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;HR 5138 b&amp;#39;s elliptical orbit&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



 Twenty long years of waiting and watching It took 20 years of observations to figure out that the planet has an 'highly eccentric' orbit because it only circles its star every 45 to 100 years. "This planet spends most of its time loitering in the outer part of its star's planetary system in this highly eccentric orbit, then it starts to accelerate in and does a slingshot around its star," explains Andrew Howard, an astronomy professor at Caltech. If the planet was placed in our solar system, it would swing from our asteroid belt to beyond Neptune — covering approximately 3.7 million kilometers — according to a study published in <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.09925">The Astronomical Journal.</a> No influence Scientists initially assumed that the HR 5138 b's wonky orbit was because another planet might be exerting its gravitational influence. But that wasn't the case. They now believe that the planet probably had a neighbour of similar size. Both the planets would have originally had flat and circular orbits. But, getting too close to each other, one pushed the other out of the solar system causing the HR 5138's slingshot orbit. "This newfound planet basically would have come in like a wrecking ball — knocking anything in its way out of the system," said Howard. 
 <div type="Youtube" id="aPeoF8EGO8Q" title="The Strange Orbit of HR 5183 b" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aPeoF8EGO8Q/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



 See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-top-space-agency-discovers-an-epic-planet-600-light-years-away/articleshow/64540798.cms">India's top space agency discovers an EPIC planet 600-light years away</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/a-new-dark-planet-on-nasas-radar-might-hold-the-key-to-what-makes-or-breaks-a-planet/articleshow/70768925.cms">A new 'dark' planet on NASA's radar might hold the key to what makes or breaks a planet</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/scavenger-hunt-for-planet-x-just-dropped-another-clue/articleshow/66072531.cms">Scavenger hunt for Planet X just dropped another clue</a>

A planet thrice the size of Jupiter discovered due to its 'strange orbit'

Our solar system may host a ninth planet that is 10 times the mass of the <keyword id="6359982" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth">Earth</keyword> and takes up to 20,000 years to orbit the Sun in a bizarre, highly elongated path, scientists say. The object, nicknamed <keyword id="3214424" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Planet-Nine">Planet Nine</keyword>, orbits about 20 times farther from the Sun on average than Neptune. 

	It would take the planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the Sun, researchers said.
 

	The researchers, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, from California Institute of Technology in US discovered the planets existence through mathematical modelling and computer simulations but have not yet observed the object directly.
 "There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third," said Brown. Brown said that the putative ninth planet - at 5,000 times the mass of <keyword id="506107" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pluto">Pluto</keyword> - is sufficiently large that there should be no debate about whether it is a true planet. 

	Unlike the class of smaller objects now known as dwarf planets, Planet Nine gravitationally dominates its neighbourhood of the solar system.

	According to the researchers, Planet Nine helps explain a number of mysterious features of the field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune known as the Kuiper Belt.
 

	"Although we were initially quite sceptical that this planet could exist, as we continued to investigate its orbit and what it would mean for the outer solar system, we become increasingly convinced that it is out there," said Batygin.
 

	"For the first time in over 150 years, there is solid evidence that the solar systems planetary census is incomplete," he said.
 Scientists have long believed that the early solar system began with four planetary cores that went on to grab all of the gas around them, forming the four gas planets - Jupiter, Saturn, <keyword id="53195" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="uranus">Uranus</keyword>, and Neptune. 

	Over time, collisions and ejections shaped them and moved them out to their present locations.
 

	"But there is no reason that there could not have been five cores, rather than four," said Brown.
 

	Planet Nine could represent that fifth core, and if it got too close to Jupiter or Saturn, it could have been ejected into its distant, eccentric orbit.

Evidence of ninth planet in solar system found, nicknamed 'Planet Nine

You can now help discover new worlds beyond our solar system from the comfort of your home, thanks to a new citizen science platform called <keyword id="10034099" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="planet-patrol">Planet Patrol</keyword> launched by <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword>. The Planet Patrol platform allows members of the public to collaborate with professional astronomers as they sort through a stockpile of star-studded images collected by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (<keyword id="1631115" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TESS">TESS</keyword>). "Automated methods of processing TESS data sometimes fail to catch imposters that look like exoplanets," said project leader Veselin Kostov, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. "The human eye is extremely good at spotting such imposters, and we need citizen scientists to help us distinguish between the look-alikes and genuine planets." Volunteers will help determine which TESS snapshots include signals from potential planets and which ones show planet impersonators, NASA said on Wednesday. TESS uses its four cameras to take full images of one patch of sky, called a sector, every 10 minutes for a month at a time. This long stare allows TESS to see when planets pass in front of their stars, or transit, and dim their light. Over the course of a year, TESS collects hundreds of thousands of snapshots, each containing thousands of possible planets -- too many for scientists to examine without help. On the new website, participants will help astronomers sift through TESS images of potential planets by answering a set of questions for each - like whether it contains multiple bright sources or if it resembles stray light rather than light from a star. These questions help the researchers narrow down the list of possible planets for further follow-up study. Citizen scientists can dive even deeper by learning more about the star in each image and by engaging with the Planet Patrol community, NASA said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/latest-updates-on-india-china-border-issue/articleshow/78162853.cms">India-China decide ‘early date’ needed for military talks on border issue — but stalemate continues</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/babri-masjid-demolition-case-cbi-special-court-acquits-all-accused-judge-says-demolition-was-not-pre-planned/articleshow/78401534.cms">Babri Masjid demolition case: CBI Special Court acquits all accused, judge says ‘demolition was not pre-planned’</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/rbi-records-its-largest-ever-current-account-surplus-but-thats-not-necessarily-a-good-thing/articleshow/78403696.cms">RBI records its largest-ever current account surplus — but that’s not necessarily a good thing</a>

NASA's new project will let you 'patrol' outer space for new planets

<ul class="summary-list"><li>More than 200 people who visited a <keyword id="1509767" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Planet-Fitness">Planet Fitness</keyword> gym in Morgantown, West Virginia, may have been exposed to COVID-19, local health officials said. </li><li>Planet Fitness shares fell as much as 6% following a report on the potential exposure. </li></ul>Health officials said more than 200 people may have been exposed to COVID-19 at a Planet Fitness gym in West Virginia. A patron who visited the gym on June 24 tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to the Monongalia County Health Department. The department <a href="http://www.monchd.org/uploads/2/7/6/1/2761941/planet_fitness_press_release.pdf">advised</a> the roughly 205 people who were at the gym between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on that day to quarantine for 14 days.Shares of Planet Fitness fell as much as 6% on Monday after Pittsburgh CBS station <a href="https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/29/planet-fitness-coronavirus/">KDKA</a> reported on the potential exposure.Planet Fitness said it closed the Morgantown gym for cleaning by a third party and would reopen it on Tuesday. The company also said Monday it was not aware of any additional customers or employees who were reporting symptoms. "We have been working closely with, and following the recommendations of, the Monongalia County Health Department after being notified that a member in our Morgantown, West Virginia location had tested positive for COVID-19," McCall Gosselin, a spokesperson for Planet Fitness, said. "We will continue to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of our community, and have taken a number of steps across all of our locations, which include enhanced cleanliness and sanitization policies and procedures, extensive training for staff, physical distancing measures, reducing physical touch points in the club with touchless check-in, and more."

Planet Fitness customer tests positive for COVID-19, potentially exposing more than 200 people, health officials say

<ul><li><keyword id="506107" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pluto">Pluto</keyword>, a planet that used to be one of the big nine, might have oceans under its surface. </li><li>Pluto was thought to be entirely frozen over 800 million years ago but a discovery of a gaseous layer reveals that there might be liquid below the planet’s icy exterior. </li><li>A study published by Japanese astronomers opens up the possibility that there may also be other planets in the galaxy that exhibit the same phenomenon.</li></ul>Pluto — famous for being reclassified as a dwarf planet — might not have a heart of ice after all. In fact, every bit of Pluto was assumed to be frozen over considering its distance from the Sun. But, a new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0369-8">Nature Geoscience</a> by Japanese astronomers thinks that there might be an entire ocean underneath the planet’s icy layer. Their theory is that gas serves as the barrier between the two states of matter. It’s insulation allows the ice to remain cold on the surface, as a warmer liquid ocean flows below. 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="To maintain an ocean, Pluto needs to retain heat inside. On the other hand, to maintain large variations in its thickness, Pluto's ice shell needs to be cold." auname="Excerpt from the study published in Nature Geoscience"></div>



 Not so frozen after all A widely accepted theory is that Pluto might have started out with liquid oceans but they would have been completely frozen around 800 million years ago — around the same time that animals first started to appear on Earth. But this new data shows that the oceans are barely frozen thanks to the insulation from gas — called a ‘gas hydrate’ layer or ‘clathrate’. So what would have ordinarily taken a 100 million years to freeze, won’t freeze for over a billion years thanks to the gas, which the researchers suspect is most probably methane. 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="The most likely clathrate guest gas is methane, derived from precursor bodies and/or cracking of organic materials in the hot rocky core." auname="Excerpt from the study published in Nature Geoscience"></div>



 Far reaching implications Determining that the dwarf planet might have an ocean at its heart doesn’t only apply to Pluto but planets, far and wide, across the galaxy. It provides the possibility that other planets, that look like they’re made of ice, may actually have liquid underneath the surface — and the Universe might have more water on it than initially suspected.

Pluto has a heart of ice that might not be so frozen after all

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Diamond planets" in the universe could contain the substance in abundance.</li><li>Researchers tested the existence of such planets by subjecting silicon carbide – a mineral thought to exist on carbon-rich planets – to extreme heat and pressure. </li><li>With the addition of water, the mineral was converted into <keyword id="6368047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="diamonds">diamonds</keyword> and silicon, showing that diamond planets are possible. </li><li>Researchers say the universe could contain trillions of diamond planets, even if such worlds are rare.</li></ul>On Earth, diamonds are considered precious partly because they're fairly rare: The <keyword id="46100" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="planet">planet</keyword>'s diamond content is about .001%. But on other planets in the universe, diamonds may be as common as ordinary rocks.According to <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/abaa3e#psjabaa3es4">new research</a> published in The Planetary <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Journal, planets with high carbon-to-oxygen ratios – known as carbide exoplanets – could form large quantities of diamonds if those planets also contain water. The researchers behind the finding, a team from Arizona State University and the University of Chicago, found that under high-heat, high-pressure conditions like those found inside the Earth, certain planets may be making vast quantities of diamonds beneath their surfaces. So much so, in fact that they're primarily made of the material. "In the universe, there are about 100 billion planets in our galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the universe," Harrison Allen-Sutter, the study's lead author and graduate assistant at Arizona State's School of Earth and <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">Space</keyword> Exploration, told Business Insider. "Even if diamond planets are only one-in-a-billion, the near-unfathomably vast size of the universe means there could still be upwards of trillions diamond planets in the universe."These worlds, known as carbide exoplanets, contain far more <keyword id="66463" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Carbon">carbon</keyword> than Earth. Near their cores, the planets are are also theorized to contain molten silicon carbide, a molecule made up of silicon and carbon. By simulating the conditions on such a planet in the lab, the researchers confirmed that if heat and pressure get extreme enough — and if a planet has water — silicon carbide can convert to silica and super-compressed carbon crystals, otherwise known as diamonds. <div type="image" title="diamond planet" height="749" width="1119" msid="78177399" hostid="261"></div>In a lab, the researchers mimicked what this chemical reaction would look like on a carbon-rich planet by first submerging silicon carbide in water. Then they placed samples of the material into a device called a diamond-anvil cell, which consists of two anvil-shaped diamonds that can compress small bits of material using extreme pressure when pressed together. The scientists then superheated the pressurized sample using a laser.At the end of the process, the sample had indeed converted into diamonds and silica – just as the researchers had predicted. It was confirmation that, yes, it's possible diamond planets exist. "These exoplanets are unlike anything in our solar system," Allen-Sutter said in a <a href="https://asunow.asu.edu/20200909-carbon-rich-exoplanets-may-be-made-diamonds">press release</a>. That's because carbon-rich planets can only exist near stars with relatively high carbon-to-oxygen ratios, which our sun lacks.Diamond planets, assuming they exist, would have harsh environments: The researchers theorized that their atmospheres would have to be rich in methane and other gases that are low in oxygen. Plus, the planets would be too hard to be geologically active – a characteristic that keeps temperatures stable.For these and other reasons, diamond planets aren't likely to harbor life. <a href="https://www.space.com/23138-diamond-planet-super-earth-discovery.html"></a>

The universe likely has trillions of planets made primarily of diamonds, scientists confirmed

<ul><li>NASA's <keyword id="1228017" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Spitzer-Space-Telescope">Spitzer Space Telescope</keyword> has been observing a planet 48.6 light years away from Earth. </li><li>Dubbed LHS 3844b, the planet has no atmosphere but holds to key to understanding where scientists should be looking for signs on <keyword id="2255377" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="life-beyond-Earth">life beyond Earth</keyword>. </li><li>This is the first time that NASA has been able to observe a planet without an atmosphere that orbiting a red dwarf star.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/10-Mind-Bending-Photos-From-The-Spitzer-Telescope/articleshow/22106180.cms">Spitzer Space Telescope</a> has been observing a planet that’s 1.3 times larger than the Earth and 48.6 light years away. And, it completes its orbit in a mere 11 hours. But, it has one critical flaw — no atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere supports life — but not every planet has the same protective layer around it. It is especially true with planets that orbit small stars. Officially named LHS 3844b, it is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/8-of-the-worlds-coolest-telescopes-that-are-changing-the-way-that-we-look-at-the-universe/slidelist/53305793.cms">first planet</a> without an atmosphere orbiting a red dwarf star, to ever be observed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (<a href="https://www.space.com/rocky-alien-planet-with-no-atmosphere-discovery.html">NASA</a>) after being spotted by the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey (TESS) in 2018. What breaks or makes a planet The lack of an atmosphere around LHS 3844b may not be able to support life but it gives scientists some understanding around what kind of factors can make or break a planetary atmosphere — especially since we’re always on the hunt for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Astronomers-have-discovered-a-potentially-habitable-world-just-31-light-years-away-thanks-to-NASAs-planet-hunting-telescope/articleshow/70473179.cms">habitable planets beyond our own Solar System.</a> "We've got lots of theories about how planetary atmospheres fare around M dwarfs, but we haven't been able to study them empirically," states Laura Kriedberg, a researcher at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and lead author of the study. "Now, with LHS 3844b, we have a terrestrial planet outside our solar system where for the first time we can determine observationally that an atmosphere is not present," explains Kriedberg. Volcano and ashes Unlike most planets that are close to a star, LHS 3844b is actually ‘quite dark’, according to Renyu Hu, an exoplanet scientist with NASA and co-author of the study published in Nature. Spitzer and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have observed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Clouds-on-Uranus-smell-like-farts-astronomers-have-confirmed-a-clue-that-there-was-a-big-shakeup-early-in-the-solar-system/articleshow/63888299.cms">gas planets</a> and their atmospheres in the past, but this is the first time that they’ve used light — or lack thereof — to gather data about a planet. The fact that LHS 3844b doesn’t have an atmosphere makes it more like the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-discover-water-depletion-on-the-moon/articleshow/68902726.cms">Moon</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-fascinating-and-terrible-things-that-would-happen-to-you-if-you-tried-to-fly-on-jupiter-and-other-planets/Planes-use-the-air-on-Earth-to-generate-a-difference-in-pressure-below-and-above-the-wings-which-produces-lift-But-theres-no-atmosphere-on-Mercury-which-means-you-couldnt-even-glide-on-it-If-you-drove-the-plane-off-of-a-cliff-youd-fall-and-crash-like-this/slideshow/54705431.cms">Mercury</a> rather than the Earth. Even it’s surface is covered in volcanic residue similar to the material found on the lunar surface called mare. Hot and cold The similarities between LHS 3844b and the Moon don’t stop at both of them being covered in ancient volcanic ash. They both have a ‘<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/there-is-a-dark-side-of-the-moon-but-you-are-probably-using-the-term-incorrectly-all-of-the-time/articleshow/67400466.cms">dark side</a>’ as well. The Moon, in its orbit of Earth, always has one side that’s facing the planet and one side that’s permanently facing away. The same ‘tidal lock’ has been observed on the planet where its ‘dayside’ heats up 770 degrees Celcius and the ‘night side’ never faces the star. Because there’s no atmosphere — meaning no winds, no air and no movement — none of that heat gets dispersed around the planet and both sides continue to exhibit temperatures that are poles apart. Exceptional yet common Red dwarves themselves aren’t uncommon as the smallest and the coolest of the star categories. In fact, they make up three quarters of the stars in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-supermassive-black-hole-at-the-center-of-our-galaxy-suddenly-lit-up-brighter-than-scientists-had-ever-seen-and-nobody-knows-why/articleshow/70684341.cms">Milky Way</a>. Despite their abundance, they aren’t as easy to observe. Flickering at around 1/10,000 of the Sun’s brightness, most of them are invisible to the naked eye. Because they’re so common, they’re also host to a majority of the planets in any particular galaxy, including our own. Understanding how they work and function is critical to figuring out where to look for life in the vast universe. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/our-very-own-black-hole-in-the-milky-way-doesnt-quite-eat-up-everything/articleshow/69684893.cms">Our very own black hole in the Milky Way doesn’t quite eat up ‘everything’</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Astronomers-have-discovered-a-potentially-habitable-world-just-31-light-years-away-thanks-to-NASAs-planet-hunting-telescope/articleshow/70473179.cms">Astronomers have discovered a potentially habitable world just 31 light-years away, thanks to NASA's planet-hunting telescope</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-spots-marsquake-on-insight-lander-mission/articleshow/69018433.cms">NASA detects a quake on Mars for the very first time — using sound</a>

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