The telescope is so sensitive that it can easily detect various molecules,
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Space Telescope Webb officially discovers its first exoplanet, a world roughly the same size as the outer Earth solar system We. This condition can also be called an exoplanet. The planet, named LHS 475 b, is 41 light years away and 99 percent the diameter of Earth.
The presence of LHS 475 b was suspected by researchers observing for clues about the planet using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, but they were able to confirm its presence with the Webb Near-Infrared Spectrograph. Webb has explained exoplanet it’s been found before, but confirming the existence of LHS 475 b is the first time telescope it discovered an exoplanet in the night sky, which was one of its core scientific missions.
“These first observations of an Earth-sized rocky planet open the door in the future to studying rocky planetary atmospheres with Webb,” said Mark Clampin, director of the strophysics division at NASA headquarters in Washington. GizmodoThursday (12/1/2023).
He explains Webb is bringing humanity ever closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside the Solar System, where his mission is just beginning. While telescopes can confirm it is a rocky, Earth-like exoplanet, it’s unclear whether LHS 475 b has an atmosphere.
However, researchers were able to determine that the planet’s surface is several hundred degrees warmer than Earth’s. Further observations of the planet are scheduled for this summer. “The observatory data is excellent,” said astrophysicist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and collaborator on the discovery, Erin May.
May said the telescope is so sensitive that it can easily detect various molecules, but researchers have not been able to draw definite conclusions about the planet’s atmosphere.
The Webb Space Telescope, launched just over a year ago, continues to peer into the depths of space to help researchers take a closer look at the universe. Webb’s mission is to help hunt for exoplanets, including those that could support life, and this new milestone is just the first of many.
