NASA has detected water vapor hints in exoplanet GJ 486b

The James Webb Space Telescope has detected hints of water vapor while observing rocky exoplanet GJ 486 b, but a mystery remains. Researchers are puzzled over whether the water vapor could be due to cool starspots on the planet’s host star, or if it could indicate an atmosphere — which would be the first atmosphere definitively detected around a rocky exoplanet.

Planet GJ 486 b is very close to its red dwarf star. It completes an orbit in just under 1.5 Earth days, and it has a surface temperature of 800 degrees F (426.7 degrees C). If the water vapor is due to an atmosphere, that atmosphere would need to be continuously replenished due to harsh radiation from the active star. These findings would represent a major breakthrough for exoplanet science.

To get to the bottom of this mystery, astronomers are already planning to observe this exoplanet with another Webb instrument. This will help ultimately determine if an atmosphere does exist for planet GJ 486 b. Stay tuned for more to come!

Courtesy: NASA, The James Webb Space Telescope

Ice giant Uranus on James Webb Telescope

Uranus has never looked that better. Really!! Webb’s first glimpse at this ice giant highlights bright atmospheric features, as well as 11 of the planet’s 13 rings. Only Voyager 2 and Keck (with adaptive optics) have imaged the planet’s faintest rings before, and never as clearly as this.

Uranus rotates on its side, causing its poles to experience 42 years of sunlight and 42 years of darkness. (It takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.) When Voyager flew by Uranus in 1986, it was summer at its south pole. Currently, the south pole is out of view, facing the darkness of space.

Advertisements

Check out the polar cap (bright white area) on the right side of the image. Webb reveals a subtle enhanced brightening at its center. This polar cap appears in the direct sunlight of summer and vanishes in the fall. Webb’s data will help us to understand this mystery.

This was only a 12-minute exposure image! And It’s just the tip of the ice(planet)berg for what Webb will uncover. Uranus has 27 known moons! Most are too small and faint to see, but the 6 brightest are labeled in this wide-view. (The other bright objects are background galaxies.)

Image description: The planet Uranus is on a black background just left of center. It is colored light blue and displays a large, white patch on the right side as well as two bright spots and a surrounding system of nested rings oriented vertically. Just below the planet at the 7-o’clock position is a faint blue point labeled Puck. Brighter blue points at 8 o’clock, 5 o’clock, and 3 o’clock are labeled Ariel, Miranda, and Umbriel, respectively. Farther from the planet, two additional blue points at 7 o’clock and 5 o’clock are labeled Titania and Oberon. Faint orange smudges are scattered in the background.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, with image processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Check images of Hubble and James Webb Telescope here at Space Science
Follow us on Facebook

Ice giant Uranus on James Webb Telescope — Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, with image processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

You Might Also Like

Powerful West Pacific Typhoon “Soudelor”

Beautiful Images of Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope

How to Earn Million Dollars per Month?