On Tuesday, a team of NASA astronomers revealed the first long-awaited images taken by the innovative James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
From a full infrared image of the distant universe to a dazzling image of the Carina Nebula, the world was not disappointed. In addition to the stunning images, the Earthlings took a look at the type of science that JWST will conduct while searching for habitable exoplanets in the universe. In fact, astronomers have revealed the most detailed measurements of an exoplanet’s atmosphere outside our solar system to date, and there appear to be hints of water, fog and clouds in the planet’s atmosphere that were unknown. previously.
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The exoplanet observed in question is called WASP-96b, and is one of more than 5,000 planets that have been confirmed to exist in the Milky Way outside our solar system to date. Cataloging and discovering exoplanets, that is, planets from other solar systems, is an impressive human achievement: because they are much smaller than stars and therefore much fainter, they are much harder to see. In fact, the first exoplanet was not detected until 1992, meaning that any science fiction produced before then involving explorers visiting other planets was based on speculation.
The exoplanet WASP-96b is located almost 1,150 light-years away in the constellation Phoenix, and was first discovered by scientists in 2014. It is a rather unusual exoplanet, as there is no planet. comparable to him existing in the solar system of the Earth. For example, WASP-96b orbits its own star every 3.4 days, meaning temperatures are around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. (By comparison, Mercury, the planet closest to our sun, orbits once every 88 days. In addition, our solar system has no gas giants close to the sun.)
As a gaseous planet less than half the size of Jupiter (but 1.2 times the diameter of Jupiter), NASA describes that WASP-96 b is “much more inflated” than any planet orbiting Jupiter. our Sun.
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Extraordinarily, from just 6.4 hours of observation, JWST took incredibly accurate measurements of the exoplanet that revealed a different signature of water and tests of fog and clouds. Previous WASP-96b studies did not detect these signatures.
The measurements, which are the most detailed of their kind, were made by JWST’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS), which measured the light from the exoplanet as it passed through its star. The light curve showed a change in the brightness and individual wavelengths of infrared light between 0.6 and 2.8 microns.
The measurements also revealed a hidden, albeit somewhat familiar, atmosphere with an “unmistakable sign of water, signs of fog and evidence of clouds that were believed not to exist according to previous observations.”
“From our angle of view, this transits in front of its star every three and a half days, allowing a small fraction of the star’s light to pass through its atmosphere and reveal its composition,” Avi said. Loeb, former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University, told Salon by email. “These measures help us better understand how the gas giants of the solar system formed.”
The measurements confirmed some of what scientists already knew: the size, orbit, and mere existence of WASP-96b. But, as stated above, it also revealed a hidden, albeit somewhat familiar, atmosphere with an “unmistakable sign of water, signs of fog and evidence of clouds that were believed not to exist according to previous observations.” NASA explained.
So, does this mean that life could exist on this exoplanet? After all, water is considered a key signature of life beyond Earth.
“These planets are not believed to host life, because they don’t have a fine atmosphere at the top of a rocky surface, like Earth,” Loeb explained. “The combination of liquid water and a solid surface is believed to be crucial ingredients in the ‘life as we know it’ recipe.”
However, the measurements provide the world with an insight into the accuracy and speed with which JWST could fulfill its mission of studying Earth-like exoplanet atmospheres. As previously reported, JWST could also be sufficiently capable of observing industrial pollution into the atmosphere of an alien planet, revealing intelligent, extinct, or even existing alien civilizations.
NASA said the next step for JWST is to “measure the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, limit the abundance of various elements such as carbon and oxygen, and estimate the temperature of the atmosphere in depth.” “.
“They can then use this information to make inferences about the overall composition of the planet, as well as how, when and where it formed,” NASA said.