Located 700 light-years from the Sun, the boiling Saturn-like planet has become the most studied planet outside our solar system. Measurements of the planet’s atmosphere by the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed unprecedented details of its chemistry and even allowed astronomers to test methods of detecting extraterrestrial life.

exoplanet WASP Orbiting a star in the constellation Virgo, -39b made headlines in late August. James Webb Space Telescope (Webb or JWST) detected carbon dioxide in its atmosphere. it was the first such detection, and experts described the finding as a major breakthrough. Now, less than three months later, a series of studies based on observations from a large telescope have revealed the tiniest details of WASP-39b’s atmosphere, even allowing astronomers to draw conclusions about the exoplanet’s formation history.

“These early observations herald more amazing science to come from JWST,” he said. Laura Kreidberg, director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Germany, who participated in the observations. “We tested the telescope to check the performance and it was almost perfect – even better than we had hoped.”

Astronomers used three of Webb’s four instruments to observe the distant planet: the main one. NIRCam camera and two NIRISS spectroscopes and NIRSpecseparating light from observed objects into light ones spectrumare similar to fingerprints of barcodes that reveal the chemical composition of observed objects. planets and stars.

Observations have shown that WASP-39b is covered by thick clouds containing sulfur and silicates. These chemicals interact with the light from the parent star to form sulfur dioxide, and a reaction similar to ozone formation occurs. earth’s atmosphere.

Is it WASP-39b? gas giant about one-third the size of the largest planet solar system Jupiter and orbits only 4.3 million miles (7 million kilometers) or eight times closer than its parent star. inner planet of the solar system Mercury The high intensity of starlight hitting WASP-39b makes the planet an ideal laboratory for studying such photochemical reactions, scientists from the sun said in a statement.

The level of detail provided by JWST has allowed astronomers to look into the history of WASP-39b and learn how this hot and scorching world came to be. Based on the ratio of carbon to oxygen, potassium to oxygen and sulfur to hydrogen in the planet’s atmosphere, the researchers concluded that the gas giant planet was formed as a result of the collision of several minor planetesimals. Also, the much higher oxygen content compared to carbon in the dense clouds indicated that WASP-39b formed much further away from its star than it orbits today.

“Data like this are game-changing,” said Natalia Batalya, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, who coordinates the observing program.

The observations have even allowed astronomers to test methods that could one day help detect life on other exoplanets. This determination will be based on a similar analysis of the atmosphere performed on WASP-39b and then compare the results with models of alien planets. For example, if there is more oxygen on the planet than these models predict, it could be a sign of life.

However, WASP-39b is not an unlikely candidate to host extraterrestrial life due to its proximity to its parent star, as the planet’s temperature rises uninhabitable to 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit (900 degrees Celsius). Source