The James Webb Space Telescope has analyzed the atmosphere of an exoplanet in unprecedented detail. Among other things, the instrument found water, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, sodium and potassium in the celestial body with the designation WASP-39 b.
The space telescope has thus shown that it can analyze a whole menu of atoms, molecules and even traces of chemical processes and clouds on distant exoplanets, the research team explains. The celestial body, about 700 light-years away, is an important training object for the space telescope, where carbon dioxide was detected shortly after it went into operation.
enthusiasm for research
About the size of Saturn, WASP-39 b is a hot gaseous planet. The data collected now is revolutionary, the instruments would cover a wide range of the infrared spectrum and a large number of chemical fingerprints, explains the astronomer Natalie Batalha. So you have the first direct evidence of photochemistry on another celestial body: The sulfur dioxide found is produced by high-energy radiation in the upper atmosphere. A total of five scientific articles have already been written on the finds. But methane and hydrogen sulfide could not be detected.
“We predicted what the telescope would show us, but it’s more precise, diverse and beautiful than anything I expected,” says astrophysicist Hannah Wakeford. The chemical composition of the atmosphere indicates that the exoplanet has had a turbulent history of collisions and collisions, the research team explains. This is indicated by the amount of sulfur in relation to hydrogen. The amount of oxygen could be due to the exoplanet forming farther from its star. It orbits its star at an eighth of the distance between Mercury and the sun.
Enthusiastic research community
The James Webb Space Telescope is operated by the space agencies NASA, ESA and CSA and was launched on December 25, 2021. After a complex procedure of self-unfolding, it arrived at the L2 Lagrange point a month later. Here it looks away from the sun, earth and moon into space so that their thermal radiation does not disturb the infrared telescope. A huge protective screen blocks them. It explores exoplanets like WASP-39 b by measuring the light from their stars as they glide past them. Parts of it have passed through the atmosphere and contain traces of its composition.
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Since the space telescope began scientific work at the beginning of July, the quality of the data has not only fascinated the research community. The first recordings are currently being published directly. The aim is for the scientific community to learn how to use the new observatory and its instruments as well as possible. After a debate about the name of the new instrument, NASA decided just a few days ago that, contrary to popular demand, it will not be renamed.
(mho)