The James Webb telescope confirms the existence of an exoplanet which it calls LHS 475 b

A whole new world! This is how NASA researchers described the announcement of the existence of an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, for which they used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for the first time.

Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as Earth, clocking in at 99% of our planet’s diameter. The research team is led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, NASA reported.

The team chose to observe this target with the Webb telescope after carefully reviewing targets of interest from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which hinted at the planet’s existence.

Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) captured the planet easily and clearly with just two transit observations. “There is no doubt that the planet is there. Webb’s pristine data validates this,” said Lustig-Yaeger.

“The fact that it is also a small, rocky planet is impressive for the observatory,” Stevenson added. “These first observational results of a rocky, Earth-sized planet open the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb,” agreed Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. .

“Webb brings us ever closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is just beginning.”

Although the data shows that it is a terrestrial planet the size of Earth, they do not yet know if it has an atmosphere. “The data from the observatory is beautiful,” said Erin May, also of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. “The telescope is so sensitive that it can easily detect a variety of molecules, but we cannot yet draw any definitive conclusions about the planet’s atmosphere.”

Webb also revealed that the planet is a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth, so if clouds are detected, the researchers can conclude that the planet is more like Venus, that it has an atmosphere of carbon dioxide and is perpetually shrouded. in thick clouds “We are at the forefront of studying small, rocky exoplanets,” said Lustig-Yaeger. “We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what their atmospheres might look like.”

The researchers also confirmed that the planet completes one orbit in just two days, information that was revealed almost instantly by Webb’s precise light curve. Although LHS 475 b is closer to its star than any other planet in our solar system, its red dwarf star is less than half the temperature of the Sun, so researchers project it could still have an atmosphere, NASA reported. on your website. (YO)