The James Webb Space Telescope recently sent in some amazing images from space,
proving once again the extent of its capabilities and how it will perform far beyond
the expectations scientists, astronomers, space enthusiasts, and your mom alike have about it.
Its recent discovery even pushes these expectations higher.
The JWST has uncovered something entirely different on the faraway planet WASP 96b.
This discovery has previously gone unnoticed since the planet was discovered.
What exactly did the JWST discover on WASP 96b?
How did the JWST make this discovery? And what does this discovery mean for mankind?
So a lot of people might not have heard of WASP 96b. First, it is a planet, not a wasp;
now that we have that out of the way, WASP 96b is a gas giant exoplanet.
WASP 96b is about 1,120 light-years from Earth in the Phoenix constellation. This planet orbits
a class G star WASP 96 and completes its orbit around its star every 3.4 earth days. It is pretty
similar to Jupiter as a gas giant, but Its mass is 0.48 that of Jupiter’s, while its diameter is
1.2 times greater than Jupiter’s. It paints the image of a small planet with a lot of swirling
gas around it, quite puffy if you think about it. It is unlike any other planet in our solar system.
Its temperature is obviously off the chart due to its proximity to its star,
and we doubt that man would dream of landing on this planet anytime soon.
This planet was discovered through the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) in 2013;
we see where it gets its name. In previous assessments of this planet from earth,
scientists proved this planet had clear skies, which was a big help to scientists trying to study
the planet from afar. With James Webb’s recent discovery, there is now evidence of water vapor,
hazes and previously unseen clouds, too. “This is great to see,” said Jonathan Fortney,
an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz. According to him,
the presence of clouds where none were expected is a surprise. “I don’t know what to say!”
The fact that James Webb could see more clearly the nature of the planet
is quite fascinating, as the preciseness of the discovery required careful timing.
WASP-96b makes a transit across the surface of its star once every three and a half days, blocking
out a little portion of the star's light when it is in this position relative to our planet.
An even smaller amount of light passed through the ring of the atmosphere,
encircling the planet during that time, providing the spectral fingerprints of floating molecules.
This was observed by the Webb spacecraft at the time. This was achieved with the help of
Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS), as it monitored
light coming from the WASP-96 system for 6.4 hours as the planet moved across the star.
The result is a light curve that illustrates the overall lowering of starlight during the transit,
as well as a transmission spectrum that demonstrates the brightness
variation of distinct infrared light wavelengths between 0.6 and 2.8 microns.
The transmission spectrum reveals previously unknown details of the atmosphere, including
the unmistakable signature of water, indications of haze, and evidence of clouds that were thought
not to exist based on previous observations. The light curve, on the other hand, does not
reveal anything new about the properties of the planet, namely its existence, size, and orbit.
Detecting unfiltered starlight when the planet is beside a star
is what creates a transmission spectrum by comparing starlight filtered through its
atmosphere as it passes through the atmosphere of the planet. Researchers can detect and measure the
abundances of key gases in a planet's atmosphere based on the absorption pattern - the locations
and heights of peaks on the graph. Similar to how people have unique fingerprints and DNA sequences,
atoms and molecules have distinct patterns of wavelengths that they absorb.
“A transmission spectrum is made by comparing starlight filtered through a planet’s atmosphere
as it moves across the star to the unfiltered starlight detected when
the planet is beside the star,” the Webb astronomers explained.
“We are able to detect and measure the abundances of key gases in a planet’s
atmosphere based on the absorption pattern — the locations and heights of peaks on the graph.”
In addition to being the most detailed near-infrared transmission spectrum captured
by NIRISS for any exoplanet atmosphere to date, it also covers a very broad wavelength range,
including visible red light and portions of the spectrum not
previously accessible by other telescopes (wavelengths longer than 1.6 microns).
This spectrum region is particularly sensitive to water and other vital molecules such as oxygen,
methane, and carbon dioxide, which are not immediately visible in the WASP-96 b spectrum
but should be detectable in other exoplanets planned for Webb's observations.
In addition to determining the abundance of various elements such as carbon and oxygen
and estimating the atmosphere's temperature with depth,
scientists can now measure the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere of planets.
With what they can find through the spectrum, they can also determine
other vital information about the planet, such as how, when and even where it was formed.
As we have seen, this discovery was only possible due to the James Webb Space Telescope's advanced
systems and unique design. Its mirror stands at 270 square feet, all plated in gold and is
very efficient at collecting infrared light. Its precise spectrographs divide light into thousands
of infrared color rainbows. Additionally, its highly sensitive infrared detectors detect
the slightest variations in light. NIRISS can distinguish between brightness differences between
those hues of a few hundred parts per million and color differences of only a few thousandths
of a micron (the difference between green and yellow is around 50 thousandths of a micron).
It is also strategically located at Lagrange Point 2, where there won't be any interference from the
earth, giving it an uninterrupted view and clear data that can be analyzed fast and accurately.
The extremely precise spectrum, created by examining 280 individual spectra taken
during the observation, is only a taste of what Webb has in store for exoplanet study.
In the coming years, scientists will use spectroscopy to investigate the surfaces
and atmospheres of several dozen exoplanets. These planets range in composition from small,
rocky worlds to giants that are rich in gas and ice. Exoplanets and the materials that make them
up are the focus of over one-quarter of the observation time that Webb allotted
during Cycle 1 of its mission. The powerful telescope will also be pointed toward smaller,
rocky, potentially Earth-like worlds by Webb's scientists. In our galaxy alone,
there may be well over a trillion exoplanets. However, we barely know anything about them.
In a nutshell, there is a lot to look forward to with the James Webb Space Telescope,
and this discovery is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg with regard to what it can do.
The James Webb Space Telescope has now equipped man with the ability to gaze
at the stars and watch as new solar systems are birthed. Who knows, in a couple of years,
we might identify planets that are practically habitable for man.
We hope you enjoyed the video; if you are interested in more updates about
the discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope,
then subscribe to this channel for more out of this world content!