Scientists observe a phenomenon similar to that of the earth exoplanet Who could contain water thanks to the NASA James Webb space telescope, the space agency said in a press release.
Exoplanet, known as Trappist-13, orbit around the Red Dwarf Star Trappist-1. The system was Discovered in 2017. There are seven worlds the size of the earth orbiting around the star, but the planet E is the only one that is at a distance where the presence of water on the surface is “theoretically possible,” said NASA. However, astronomers must still determine if the planet has an atmosphere.
HAS look for an atmosphereNASA scientists directed the near infrared spectrographer instrument from the webb telescope to the Trappist-1 system while the planet E Passed in front of the star. If the planet has an atmosphere, the light of the stars that crosses it will be partially absorbed. This will create hollows in the light spectrum that reaches the spectrograph. These immersions will allow scientists to determine whether the planet has an atmosphere and what chemicals it could be formed.
Scientists also study the luminous spectrum of another exoplanet of the system called Trappist-1 b. The researchers have determined that the planet has no atmosphere, said NASA, so comparing its results to those of Trappist-13 allows to have a more complete image of the potential atmosphere of this planet.
NASA, ESA, ASC, STSCI, Joseph Olmsted (STSCI)
“Webb infrared instruments give us more details than we have never had access before, and the first four observations that we have made of the planet E show us with which we will have to work when the rest of the information will come,” said Espinoza of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, principal researcher of the research team. Espinoza and the research team recently published two scientific articles describing their first results.
Researchers are “convinced” that Trappist-1 e has no primary atmosphere. A primary atmosphere would be made up of hydrogen and helium which would have been present during the formation of the planet. But the star around which the planet orbit is “very active”, with “frequent eruptions”, said NASA, which create a stellar radiation which could have “destroyed” this primary atmosphere. However, Trappist-1 e could have created a “heavier secondary atmosphere”. Many planets, whose earth, have done this, said NASA. In depth research with the webb telescope and its instruments will determine the types of atmosphere and their composition.
There are also many possibilities in terms of water on the planet. There may not be any at all, said NASA. Trappist-1 could also contain an ocean or a wide strip of water. One side of the planet is still in the dark, so there can also be ice, said NASA. If there was liquid water on the planet, NASA researchers claim that there would also be a greenhouse effect, where gases like carbon dioxide would maintain the stable atmosphere and warmer the planet.
“We are still in the first stages of learning the kind of amazing science that we can make with webb. It is incredible to measure the details of the light of the stars around planets of the size of the earth at 40 light years and to learn what it could look like there, if life was possible there,” said Ana Glidden, postdoctoral researcher at Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which led research on the possible atmospheres of the planet. E, in the NASA press release. “We are in a new era of exploration in which it is very exciting to participate,” she said.
