Steam world

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A steam world is a type of exoplanet, with an atmosphere comprised of hot water vapor, or steam.

The first discovered steam world is GJ 9827 d which was characterized by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2024, led by a study team in the University of Montréal's Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets. [1] [2] GJ 9827 d was first discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope back in 2017, and in 2023 the Hubble Space Telescope detected traces of water vapor in its atmosphere for the first time.

A particular characteristic of steam worlds is that they tend to be Sub-Neptune exoplanets [2] . It is unlikely that steam worlds are capable of supporting life as we know it. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Nearby exoplanet is a 1st-of-its-kind 'steam world,’ James Webb Space Telescope finds, space.com, October 11, 2024
  2. 1 2 JWST/NIRISS Reveals the Water-rich "Steam World" Atmosphere of GJ 9827 d, Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb, Björn Benneke, Michael Radica, Eshan Raul, Louis-Philippe Coulombe, Eva-Maria Ahrer, Daria Kubyshkina, Ward S. Howard, Joshua Krissansen-Totton, Ryan J. MacDonald, Pierre-Alexis Roy, Amy Louca, Duncan Christie, Marylou Fournier-Tondreau, Romain Allart, Yamila Miguel, Hilke E. Schlichting, Luis Welbanks, Charles Cadieux, Caroline Dorn, Thomas M. Evans-Soma, Jonathan J. Fortney, Raymond Pierrehumbert, David Lafrenière, Lorena Acuña, Thaddeus Komacek, Hamish Innes, Thomas G. Beatty, Ryan Cloutier, René Doyon, Anna Gagnebin, Cyril Gapp, and Heather A. Knutson, October 4 2024

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