Liputan6.com, Jakarta – Teleskop James Webb again recorded a new achievement, after previously this telescope managed to capture a more visual appearance of outer space within six months of its operation.
This time, as quoted from Engadget, Friday (13/1/2023), the James Webb telescope managed to find an exoplanet for the first time. According to astronomers’ records, this planet is about 41 light years away and is in the constellation Octan.
The planet, named LHS 475 b, is said to have a diameter that is almost like that of Earth, about 99 percent. Is a team of astronomers from the Applied Sciences laboratory at Johns Hopkins University who discovered the existence of this planet.
At first, they found exoplanet this while extracting data from NASA’s Transisting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). However, later Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) readings from the James Webb telescope confirmed its presence.
“There is no doubt that the planet exists. Webb’s original data validates it,” said Jacob Lustig-Yaeger as the leader of the team of astronomers.
Currently, a team of astronomers is analyzing its transmission spectrum to determine the type of atmosphere on the planet, if there is one.
However, the current data capture shows the planet has a rocky surface. In addition, the surface temperature of the planet is about 300 Celsius, hundreds of degrees warmer than Earth.
If cloud cover is found on this planet, there is a possibility that the climate on this planet will be more like Venus. The researchers also confirmed that LHS 475 b was able to maintain a tidal orbit with its star for only two days.
For your information, among the telescopes currently operating, both terrestrial and orbital, only the James Webb telescope has the ability to accurately calculate and characterize the atmospheres of planets outside the Solar System that are the size of Earth.
video-gallery--item__video-caption_read-video-article">The United States Space Agency (NASA) and US President Joe Biden have finally released the first color photos from the James Webb Space Telescope.
