Carbon Dioxide 'CO2' has recently been detected on an exoplanet outside of our Earth's solar system by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
Webb Space Telescope has captured the first clear evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the planet 'WASP-39 b' outside our solar system.
WASP-39 b is the first planet outside of our solar system discovered with carbon dioxide. According to NASA, the same technology might be used on rocky planets with thinner atmospheres.
The planet "WASP-39 b" is a hot gas giant planet that was discovered in 2011. It is orbiting a Sun-like star 700 light-years away.
It has a diameter that is 1.3 times greater than Jupiter and a mass that is nearly equal to Saturn.
Its extreme puffiness is related in part to its high temperature - about 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit or 900 degrees Celsius.
Unlike the cooler, more compact gas giants in the Earth's solar system, WASP-39 b orbits very close to its star, about one-eighth the distance between the Sun and Mercury, completing one circle in just over 4 Earth days.
This observation of a gas giant planet provides important insights into the composition and formation of the planet.
WASP-39 b planet’s discovery was made based on ground-based detections of the subtle, periodic dimming of light from its host star as the planet transits, or passes in front of the star.
Other telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, have already revealed the presence of water vapor, sodium, and potassium in the planet's atmosphere.
Webb’s unmatched infrared sensitivity has now confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide on this planet as well.
First Clear Detection of Carbon Dioxide -
For its observations of WASP-39b, the research team used Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph).
In the resulting spectrum of the exoplanet’s atmosphere, a small hill between 4.1 and 4.6 microns presents the first clear, detailed evidence of carbon dioxide ever detected in a planet outside the solar system.
What does this mean?
No observatory has ever measured such subtle differences in brightness of so many different colors across the 3 to 5.5-micron range in an exoplanet transmission spectrum before.
For measuring the abundances of gases like water and methane as well as carbon dioxide, which are believed to exist in many different types of exoplanet types, access to this part of the spectrum is essential.
It is important to understand the composition of a planet's atmosphere because it provides information about the planet's origin and evolution.
According to Mike Line, a member of this research team -
"Carbon dioxide molecules are sensitive tracers of the story of planet formation. By measuring this carbon dioxide feature, we can determine how much solid versus how much gaseous material was used to form this gas giant planet.
In the coming decade, JWST will make this measurement for a variety of planets, providing insight into the details of how planets form and the uniqueness of our own solar system."