Current Affairs - Science - Discussion

21 light years away on december 22, 2018 in the constellation Cassiopeia, a shimmering "super-Earth", five times the mass of Earth, dubbed as HD219134 b was discovered. Unlike the Earth, however, it most likely does not have a massive core of iron, but is rich in calcium and aluminium alongside magnesium and silicon. It shimmers red to blue like rubies and sapphires, because these gemstones are aluminium oxides which are common on the exoplanet. According to the researchers it is one of three candidates likely to belong to a new exotic class of exoplanets. The other two exoplanets studied were 55 Cancri e and WASP-47 e. The study was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.