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Unique “Neptune-like” Exoplanet Found to Contain Water Vapor
New research presented in a series of virtual American Astronomical Society media briefings announces the discovery of a Neptune-like exoplanet orbiting unusually close to its host star. What’s more, this planet has also been found to contain water vapor, making its existence even more puzzling.
The newly discovered exoplanet TOI-674b is a Neptune-like planet 23 times more massive than Earth. This exoplanet is unique because of its close orbit to its star, which should make it nearly impossible for it to contain water vapor.
TOI-674b completes an orbit around its red dwarf host star approximately every 2 days. This is an extremely short orbit and one we would not expect to see from this type of planet. Most Neptune-like planets orbit very far away from their star, much like Neptune itself. In fact, it is so rare to see these types of planets in such as close orbit that this orbital zone is often referred to as a “Neptune Desert.”
Because of TOI-674b’s extremely close orbit, researchers were surprised to find that it has water vapor in its atmosphere. Planets that orbit close to their star are normally too hot to contain water at all, so this puzzled the research team. Most water-containing planets orbit outside of what is known as the water ice line, where compounds such as water can…
