Located at 700-light years, the planet wasp-39 B is a sparkling and warm giant, unfit for life, but suitable for the detection of C02 in the atmosphere, opening up new perspectives for the science of exoplanets.
Le Monde with AFP
of CO2 has been detected in the atmosphere of an exoplanet by the James-Webb space telescope, a discovery which demonstrates its immense capacities and which enthuses scientists for the rest of its observations.
The planet in question is a sparkling and warm giant where life as we know it would be impossible, but this discovery confirms the idea that such observations can also be made on rocky planets – in order to determine if One of them houses conditions favorable to life.
“For me, it is a door that opens for future studies of super-terres, or even land,” said Pierre-Olivier Lagage, astrophysicist at the Agency France-Pagnus on Thursday at the Agency Commissariat for atomic Energy (CEA) and one of the very numerous co -authors of this work, to be published in the scientific journal Nature. “My first reaction: WOW, we really have a chance to detect the atmospheres of planets the size of the earth”, commented on Twitter The professor in Batalha natalia astrophysics, from the University of California to Santa Cruz.
“A CAP in science Exoplanets “
CO2 detection will also allow you to learn more about the formation of this planet, named WASP-39 B and discovered in 2011, said NASA. Located at 700-light years, it is about a quarter of the mass of Jupiter, and it is very close to its sun. It was chosen because several criteria make its observation easier, when scientists are still assessing the capacities of the telescope, which revealed its first images less than two months ago.
wasp-39 B passes very regularly in front of her sun (she goes around in four days), and her atmosphere is extended. However for his observations, James-Webb uses the transit method: when the planet passes in front of his star, he captures the tiny variation of brightness that results. He then analyzed the “filtered” light through the atmosphere of the planet. The different molecules present in the atmosphere leave specific signatures, which make it possible to determine the composition.
The Hubble and Spitzer telescopes had already detected water vapor, sodium and potassium in the atmosphere of this planet, but James-Webb was able to go further thanks to its extraordinary sensitivity in the infrared. In the NASA press release, Zafar Rustamkulov, of Johns Hopkins University, told his feelings when the presence of CO2 appeared clearly: “It was a special moment, the crossing of a CAP in the science of Exoplanets. “