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Artist’s rendering of the Earth-sized exoplanet LHS 475 b / Source: NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope, which looks farther and deeper into space, found an exoplanet for the first time, proving its observation capabilities as a next-generation telescope.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and foreign media, the Webb telescope found a rocky planet ‘LHS 475 b’, which is almost the same size as Earth, in the octans, about 41 light years away from Earth. LHS 475 b is 99% the diameter of the Earth.
The research team, which included astronomer Kevin Stevenson of Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, and others, found ‘LHS 475 b’ using the Webb telescope’s near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSpec) on August 31 last year. ) presented at the 241st meeting.
Using the Webb telescope, the research team confirmed the existence of ‘LHS 475 b’ by seeing only two transits of the celestial plane, and examined the planet’s atmosphere. Atmospheric composition analysis was also attempted through passing starlight.
It is possible that there is no atmosphere at all, but it is possible to have an atmosphere made entirely of carbon dioxide (CO2), the team said.
It was also suggested that at least it would not have a thick methane atmosphere like Saturn’s moon Titan.
NASA plans to make a second observation this summer to confirm the presence and composition of the atmosphere.
