NASA scientists discover exoplanet that 'lost one atmosphere, but gained another' | Watch

US space agency NASA on March 11 shared about an “exciting” rocky planet that lost one atmosphere, but gained another. While taking to Twitter, NASA informed that Hubble studied an exoplanet and discovered that it might have a secondary atmosphere caused by volcanic activity. They also shared a blog link that explains the discovery of the rocky planet, GJ 1132 b. 

“Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity,” NASA said. 

According to the blog, the planet, GJ 1132 b, began as a gaseous world with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. NASA explained that due to intense radiation of the hot and young star it orbits, it quickly lost its “primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere”. However, the space agency added that to the surprise of astronomers, they noticed a “secondary atmosphere” that is present now. 

The rocky exoplanet is about 1.16 times the size of Earth. It is situated at a distance of just 41 lightyears away. NASA scientists used a giant telescope in Chile to observe the planet as it revolved around its star and found out that it indeed had an atmosphere. The researchers also made a computer model and found that “atmospheric loss” took place on the planet. But later, as more observations were made, the planet was shown to have an atmosphere containing hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane, and ammonia.

Netizens find the discovery ‘amazing’ 

Meanwhile, since being shared, the Twitter post created quite a storm among netizens. The video has garnered over 1,600 likes and more than 45,000 views. With hundreds of comments, while one user wrote “amazing”, another said, “I’ll say it again, The Hubble Space Telescope is the single most important tool in helping humanity understand the universe”.