James Webb Telescope, NASA’s made detects the presence of Carbon Dioxide in the Exoplanet Atmosphere. Researchers have used the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument of the telescope.

Highlights

• CO2 found evidence spotted on the exoplanet WASP-39 b
• WASP-39 b is located about 700 light-years away from earth
• The hot gas giant planet was discovered in 2011

Outside the solar system, for the first time, NASA’s James Webb Telescope has detected the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet that resides outside of the solar system. The chemical composition has been found near the exoplanet WASP-39 b which was discovered in 2011 and located about 700 light-years from earth. The planet is basically a hot gas giant planet that orbits a sun-like star. NASA’s statement, it founds a great help in understanding the formation and composition of the planet. The space agency also suggests that the most powerful space telescope may be able to trace the carbon dioxide in the thinner space of smaller rocky planets.

The researcher’s team used the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument which was available in the Webb space telescope. The team noticed a hill between 4.1 and 4.6 microns in the spectrum of the exoplanet’s atmosphere and according to the research team, this was the first clear and detailed evidence indicating the availability of carbon dioxide.

 A member of the JWST Training Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team said-

“As soon as the data appeared on my screen, the whopping carbon dioxide feature grabbed me. It was a special moment, crossing an important threshold in exoplanet science,” told Zafar Rustamkulov who undertook this investigation with its team.

The team led by Natalie Batalha of the University of California which stated that the detection of a clear signal of carbon dioxide throwing light over the hope that the atmosphere on smaller, terrestrial-sized planets will also be detected.

A chemical composition like carbon dioxide and any other holds some crucial value because it can help the scientist to measure the formation and origin of any specific planet. The presence of carbon dioxide gas near planet WASP-39 b would help determine the solid and gaseous material that went into the formation of the planet.

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