A Super-Earth With an Air About It: 55 Cancri e, Janssen

This month's analysis of a piping hot Super-Earth's atmosphere is a big deal.

But it's not the "first" detection of a terrestrial exoplanet's atmosphere, not by about eight years.¹

I'll be talking about how scientists sift through data, 55 Cancri e's atmosphere, its planetary system, why 55 Cancri e — the exoplanet was officially named Janssen in 2015 — and why calling Janssen a "diamond planet" may be appropriate.

• Scientists and 55 Cancri e: How They Know What They Know
  • Bayesian Basics and Dealing With Incomplete Data
  • Studying Starlight: Transits, Eclipses, and a Whole Lot of Math
• Welcome to the Copernicus Planetary System
  • There's No Place Like Home: But the Copernicus System Comes Close
  • Copernicus: Giant Planets and a Super-Earth Circling a Slightly Strange Star
• Janssen: 'Terrestrial', But Not Like Earth
  • Like a Diamond in the Sky?
  • Carbon Planets: Carbides and Maybe Diamonds

More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

(Scientists say there is carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and maybe more in the atmosphere of a terrestrial exoplanet. I talk about that, and headlines.)