GTC to unravel the mystery of the atmosphere of one of the 'super-Earths'

The 'super-Earths', with a mass 10 times greater than Earth's, are good candidates to find life outside our solar system.

Located 42 light years away, GJ 1214b is one of the most studied because it can be seen from ground-based telescopes with relative ease

The data obtained with the GTC by IAC researchers support the idea that GJ1214b's atmosphere is made up of metal.

Super-Earths defense of life is weaker than on Earth

Life may exist on the "super-Earths" with a small probability, than on the small-sized planets like the Earth, because they do not have a magnetic field and volcanic centers, necessary for life.

Media writing, based on the statement of the group planetologists Vlada Stamenkovic of the U.S. Massachusetts tehnoinstituta that the purpose of the study - the ability to find out, whether considered "super-Earths" enlarged copies of the earth with the same properties, or they are very fundamentally different from it.