Signs of life discovered in a planet 700 light years away from Earth
Signs of life discovered in a planet 700 light years away from Earth
Washington: NASA’s James Webb Telescope has made the first discovery of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.
According to NASA, the telescope’s discovery shows that the space-based observatory could potentially detect and measure the gas in the thin atmospheres of small, habitable planets.
According to experts, WASP-39 b is a ball of hot gas orbiting a Sun-like star 700 light-years away from Earth.
The mass of this planet is about a quarter of that of Jupiter, while its diameter is 1.3 times that of Jupiter.
The reason this planet is so bloated is because of its extreme temperature, which scientists estimate is up to 900 degrees Celsius.
Unlike other gas balls in our solar system, WASP-39 b orbits very close to its central star. The distance between this planet and its star is one-eighth of the distance between the Sun and Mercury. This planet completes one revolution around its star in four Earth days.
The planet was discovered in 2011 by a ground-based telescope. However, the James Webb Space Telescope, for example, with its infrared sensitivity, has now confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide in this planet.
