The ability to investigate exoplanets in greater detail than ever before is one of the big advances promised by the james wbb space telescope Astronomers have used the telescope to get the most in-depth look at the atmosphere of the planet WASP-39 b, which has already been imaged and detected.
spectrometers break light down into different wavelength to see which ones have been absorbed by different Molecules in the Atmosphere This allows researchers to see the atmosphere of the planet and tell them what is in it.
The planet is very hot and circles its host star four times a day. Sulfur dioxide was found for the first time in the atmosphere, as well as water and carbon dioxide. This is the first time that this photochemistry has been seen on an exoplanet.
Learning about the atmosphere of an exoplanet is important for understanding the planet as it is now and for understanding how it formed in the past. One of the researchers said that the most exciting moment of his career so far was seeing the results of his analysis. The chemical inventory of WASP-39b suggests that the planet was formed far away from the central star.
It has not yet been published in a journal. Three of the papers are accepted and two are under review for the journal Nature.
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