Carbon dioxide has They were detected on the planet outside our solar system for the first time. Gas was observed directly by James Webb’s space telescope on four exoplanets, all belonging to the HR 8799 system, located 130 airy years from Earth. Detection of what2 It offers tips on how distant planets form, with observations that provide sturdy evidence that these four giant planets were created in the same way as Jupiter and Saturn, through leisurely creation of solid cores. The discoveries were published In the latest issue of an astronomical magazine.
“By detecting these strong carbon dioxide formations, we have shown that there is a significant part of heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen and iron, in the atmosphere of these planets,” said William Balmer, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University University and the main author of the paper, said at NASA. “Considering what we know about the stars they orbit, he probably indicates that they created the basic accretion, which for planets that we can see directly is an exciting conclusion.”
HR 8799 is a system that was born 30 million years ago, just like the newborn compared to our solar system, which has been around for 4.6 billion years. Still warm after their violent formation of the HR 8799 planet, they emit vast amounts of infrared airy. This provides scientists with valuable data on how their formation is compared with the form of a star or a brown dwarf, a term given to vast gas planets that do not transform into stars.
“Our hope with this kind of research is to understand our own solar system, life and ourselves compared to other exoplanetary systems, so that we can contextualize our existence,” said Balmer. “We want to take photos of other solar systems and see how similar they are or differ from ours. From there we can try to understand how strange our solar system is or how normal it is.”
Carbon dioxide was an indispensable component of the development of life on Earth, which makes it a key goal in search of life elsewhere in space.
Plus, because what2 It condenses into miniature ice molecules in a deep cool space, its presence can shed airy on planetary formation. It is believed that Jupiter and Saturn were created as part of a process in which a beam of diminutive glaciers connects to a steady core, which then absorbed gas to grow in gas giants that we know today.
“We have other evidence indicating the creation of these four planets in HR 8799 by this bottom -up approach,” said Laurent Pueyo, astronomer at Space Telescope Science Institute and co -author of Gazeta in a statement for NASA. “How common is this on long -term plans that we can imagine directly? We do not know yet, but we offer further observations via Webb, inspired by our diagnostics of carbon dioxide to answer this question.”
Unlocking the potential of James Webb Space Telescope
James Webb’s space telescope should also receive his flowers because he showed that he is able to make more than infer on the atmospheric composition of the exoplanets from the airy airy measurements; In fact, he showed his ability to directly analyze the chemical composition of the atmosphere so far.
Usually JWST can barely detect exoplanets when he crosses the host’s star due to the high distance that separates us. But on this occasion, direct observation was possible thanks to JWST coronagia – Starlight blocking instruments to reveal hidden worlds.
“It’s like putting a thumb from the sun when you look at the sky,” said Balmer. This setting, similar to the solar eclipse, allowed the team to look for infrared airy along the wavelength of the planet, which reveal specific gases and other atmospheric details.
“These giant planets have very important implications,” said Balmer. “If these huge planets act like bowling flowing through our Solar System, they can disturb, protect or in a sense, they do both planets such as ours. Therefore, a better understanding of their creation is of key importance for understanding the formation, survival and residence of planets similar to earth in the future.”
This story originally appeared Wired in Spanish and was translated from Spanish.