Astonishing Details Of An Alien Planet's Atmosphere Captured By James Webb

Our week would be incomplete without the wonders shared by James Webb Space Telescope. This time, the space observatory has managed to capture a boiling Saturn-like planet situated 700 light-years away from our Sun.

Owing to JWST's powerful capabilities, this planet has become the most-explored planet outside our solar system. James Webb's measurements of the planet have revealed details about its chemistry. In addition, it has also enabled astronomers to test methods to detect alien life.

? WASP-39 b is an old friend! In August, Webb showed the first clear evidence of carbon dioxide in a planet outside our solar system. New data from the same planet also shows water, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, sodium and potassium. https://t.co/PTUX8VJF2J

¡ª NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) November 22, 2022

The exoplanet is called WASP-39b and orbits a star in the constellation Virgo. In August, Webb found carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, marking a major landmark in detection of gases.

Artist's depiction / NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Expanding our understanding of WASP-39b

Now, scientists have minute details about WASP-39b's atmosphere, all thanks to JWST. "These early observations are a harbinger of more amazing science to come with JWST," Laura Kreidberg, director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Germany said in a statement. "We put the telescope through its paces to test the performance, and it was nearly flawless ¡ª even better than we hoped," Kreidberg, who was involved with the study, added.

NASA

Three of Webb's four main instruments were used to observe the planet. These include the NIRCAM camera; and spectroscopes NIRISS and NIRSpec that help scientists study the chemical composition of observed space bodies.

Also read: James Webb Space Telescope Captures Hourglass Shaped Birth Of A Star

Astronomers have found that WASP-39b is completely covered in thick clouds made from sulfur and silicates. When these chemicals interact with the parent star's light, they produce sulfur dioxide - in a process similar to what produces ozone in Earth's atmosphere.

Webb¡¯s latest data gives us the first molecular and chemical profile of a distant world, gas giant WASP-39 b. This bodes well for its ability to probe the atmospheres of small, rocky planets like in the TRAPPIST-1 system: https://t.co/SEnIRYikS0 pic.twitter.com/NeidBgtSJa

¡ª NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) November 22, 2022

A gas giant, WASP-39b is smaller than Jupiter, orbiting its planet star at a mere distance of 7 million kilometres - about eight times closer to the distance between Mercury and our Sun. Owing to the amount of starlight it receives, WASP-39b is an ideal candidate for studying photochemical reactions, scientists said in the statement.

Also read: James Webb Telescope's Plans Being Changed To Escape Powerful Micrometeoroids

Scientists have found that the gas giant must have formed after collisions from several smaller planetesimals. The abundance of oxygen suggests that it formed farther way from the star than its current orbit.

NASA

In addition, scientists were able to test methods that could help them find alien life on other exoplanets in the near future. With a similar atmospheric analysis as the one done on WASP-39b applied to other planets, scientists hope to trace high presence of oxygen - a key sign of life.

Currently, five studies based on JWST's data are under review or being published by the journal Nature.

What do you think about new details that are coming forward everyday through JWST's lenses? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Adkins, J. (2022b, November 22). NASA¡¯s Webb Reveals an Exoplanet Atmosphere as Never Seen Before. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-reveals-an-exoplanet-atmosphere-as-never-seen-before/

Pultarova, T. (2022, November 22). James Webb Space Telescope reveals alien planet¡¯s atmosphere like never before. Space.com. https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-details-exoplanet-atmosphere