SCIENTISTS: A Scorching, Rocky Planet Twice Earth’s Size Has A Thick Atmosphere

This illustration provided by NASA in 2017 depicts the planet 55 Cancri e, right, orbiting its star. A thick atmosphere has been detected around the planet that’s twice as big as Earth in a solar system about 41 light years away, researchers reported Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

DALLAS (AP) — A thick atmosphere has been detected around a planet that’s twice as big as Earth in a nearby solar system.

Researchers reported Wednesday that the rocky planet 55 Cancri e is wrapped in a blanket of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, making it one of the few planets outside our solar system to have a thick atmosphere.

While the planet is covered by magma oceans and is likely too hot for life to survive, scientists say it’s a promising sign that other such rocky planets with bulky atmospheres could be more hospitable.

The research was published in the journal Nature.