The Webb Space Telescope has made another major scientific discovery: it has detected evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmospheres of an exoplanet for the first time.
While the planet may never be able to support life as we know it, the successful discovery of carbon dioxide on it has given researchers hope that similar results will be observed on rocky planets that are more hospitable to life.
“My The first thought was: Wow! We really have a chance of detecting the atmospheres of Earth-sized planets.”
Pierre-Olivier Lagage, an astrophysicist at France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), told AFP: “For me, this is a future target for super-Earths (larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune). planets), or the study of planets about the size of Earth opened the door.”
NASA said in a press release that the discovery of carbon dioxide will also help scientists better understand the formation process of the exoplanet WASP-39. WASP-39 orbits the star once every 4 Earth days, and is 1/4 the mass of Jupiter, but 1.3 times the diameter of Jupiter.
WASP-39’s orbital period and thick atmosphere make it ideal for testing the Webb Space Telescope’s state-of-the-art infrared sensor, NIRSpec, a very sensitive instrument that detects tiny changes in light in the atmosphere and helps scientists determine gas composition.
Past Hubble Space Telescopes and Spitzer Space Telescopes have detected water vapor, sodium and potassium in WASP-39’s atmosphere, but Webb is equipped with NIRSpec so it can detect carbon dioxide. (Translator: Li Jinwei / Verification: Zeng Yixuan) 1110826