The “Rosetta Stone” of Alien Worlds: NASA’s Webb Unmasks a Super-Earth With a Scorching Atmosphere

The “Rosetta Stone” of Alien Worlds: NASA’s Webb Unmasks a Super-Earth With a Scorching Atmosphere

A bold geochemical model reveals that TOI‑270 d, a sub‑Neptune 73 light‑years away, is likely a giant rocky world cloaked in a blistering, dense atmosphere rather than a watery Hycean planet. Webb space telescope observations uncovered carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor at temperatures above 1,000 °F, and a new chemistry framework explains how these gases evolve. [...]

Deciphering Sub-Neptune Atmospheres: New Insights from Geochemical Models of TOI-270 d - Astrobiology

The nature of sub-Neptunes is one of the hottest topics in exoplanetary science. Temperate sub-Neptunes are of special interest because some could be habitable. Here, we consider whether these planets might instead be rocky worlds with thick, hot atmospheres. Can recent JWST observations of TOI-270 d be understood in terms of such a model? We […] The post Deciphering Sub-Neptune Atmospheres: New Insights from Geochemical Models of TOI-270 d appe…