For the first time ever, astronomers have characterized atmosphere of super-earth exoplanet using Hubble Space Telescope. They found that air of the extra-solar planet 55 Cancri e has hydrogen and helium in high percentage.

Super-earths are giant exoplanets much bigger than earth. The exoplanet, also known as Janssen, is an alien world over eight times more massive than our planet that is present about 40 light-years from the solar system.

NASA’s Hubble telescope, which has been observing the universe since 1990, found that the super-earth 55 Cancri e is a gas giant that has hydrogen and helium. “This result gives a first insight into the atmosphere of a super-Earth. We now have clues as to what the planet is currently like and how it might have formed and evolved, and this has important implications for 55 Cancri e and other super-Earths”, said Giovanna Tinetti of University College London (UCL).

Super-Earth exoplanets like 55 Cancri e could be larger than earth, but smaller than our solar system’s gas giants, such as Neptune and Saturn. As per observations by NASA's Kepler space telescope, these super-earths giants the most abundant planets in our Milky Way galaxy.

According to astronomers, 55 Cancri e is an exotic space object that lies extremely close to its host star. It takes just 18 hours to orbit it star which makes it unfavorable to support life. Such planets could be too hot to host life, experts noted. Astronomers predicted that temperatures on 55 Cancri e could reach 3,630 degrees Fahrenheit.

The exoplanet, about two times wider than earth, was first spotted in 2004. A study in 2012 suggested that the planet’s interior may have a great deal of carbon. The study also stated that 55 Cancri e could be a diamond planet.