Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope Has Just Discovered Its First Planet Very Similar To Earth

Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope has just found its first exoplanet. Researchers confirmed the discovery of planet named officially as LHS 475 b and what’s amazing is that it is exactly the same size as Earth.  The exoplanet, (a planet that orbits another star) was found to be 99% of Earth’s diameter and located 41 light-years away in the constellation Octans.

The research team at NASA was led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. It was NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), that hinted of the planet’s existense. The researchers then decided to observe it with Webb. The Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIR Spec) captured the planet easily and clearly. The JWST’s accuracy and precision has given the scientists concrete evidence that the planet is very much there. According to Lustig-Yaeger and Stevenson, “There is no question that the planet is there. Webb’s pristine data validate it, “The fact that it is also a small, rocky planet is impressive for the observatory,” Stevenson added.

The incredible milestone is just the beginning of a range of planets that are expected to be found by JWST, NASA’s rocking new space telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope can capture planets in finer detail and can even provide data of a planet’s characteristics, a feature never achieved before. Mark Clampin, director of NASA Headquarters in Washington said “Webb is bringing us closer to a new knowledge of Earth-like places beyond our solar system, and the mission is just getting started.”

As of now, the scientists cannot say what’s in the planet but they can say what isn’t. It cannot have a thick methane-dominated atmosphere, similar to that of Saturn’s moon Titan. Evidence showed how LHS 475 b is an Earth-sized terrestrial planet, but it does not yet have an atmosphere. some atmospheric compositions, such as a pure carbon dioxide atmosphere, have not been ruled out.

As of now, “The observatory’s data are beautiful,” said Erin May, also of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. “The telescope is so sensitive that it can easily detect a range of molecules, but we can’t yet make any definitive conclusions about the planet’s atmosphere.”

According to the scientists, a 100 percent carbon dioxide atmosphere is much more compact and  becomes exceedingly difficult to detect. Even more precise measurements are required for the researchers to differentiate between a carbon dioxide-only atmosphere and a planet with no atmosphere. This summer, the researchers will receive additional spectra from planned observations.

LHS 475 b was found to be a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth and if clouds were detected, the planet might just be like Venus which has a carbon dioxide atmosphere and is permanently shrouded in thick clouds. The researchers also confirmed that the planet completes an orbit in just two days.

LHS 475 b takes just two days to complete an orbit and is closer to its red dwarf star than any other planet in the solar system. Moreover, the dwarf star was found to be half the temperature of the Sun which gives rise to the possibility that it could just have an atmosphere.

Only Webb is capable of characterizing the atmospheres of Earth-sized exoplanets among all operational telescopes. This rocky planet confirmation highlights the precision of the mission’s instruments,” Stevenson said.

The new discovery is just the first of many that will be made by the JWST and rocky planets are now the new frontier. Who knows, when we might even find an inhabited one.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency)……NASA