Scientists observe carbon dioxide on planets outside the solar system for the first time
Carbon dioxide has The first time it was detected on planets outside our solar system. The James Webb space telescope directly observed gas on four exoplanets, all of which belong to the HR 8799 system, which is located 130 light-years from Earth. Test CO2 Providing clues on how distant planets form, observations provide strong evidence that these four giant planets are nearly identical to the slow formation of Jupiter and Saturn through solid cores. The findings are published in the latest Journal of Astronomy.
“By detecting the formation of these intense carbon dioxide carbon carbon dioxide, we have shown that there are quite a few heavy elements in the atmospheres of these planets, such as carbon, oxygen and iron, such as carbon, oxygen and iron, and iron,” said William Balmer, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in a statement to NASA. “Given our knowledge of star orbits, this may indicate that they are formed from the accumulation of cores, which is an exciting conclusion for planets that we can see directly.”
HR 8799 is a system born 30 million years ago and has survived for 4.6 billion years compared to our solar system. The planet of HR 8799 is still hot due to its violent formation, emitting a lot of infrared light. This provides scientists with valuable data on how it forms is versus how stars or brown dwarves are formed, the term gives large atmospheric planets that failed to develop into stars.
“Our hope for this kind of research is to know our own solar system, life and ourselves, compared to other exoplanets, so that we can contextualize our existence,” Balmer said. “We want to take pictures of other solar systems and see if they are similar or different from us. From there, we can try to understand the real weirdness of our solar system, or how normal it is.”
Carbon dioxide has been an important part of the development of life on Earth, making it a key goal in finding life elsewhere in outer space.
In addition, because of cooperation2 Condensing it into tiny ice particles in deep space, its presence can reveal planetary formation. Jupiter and Saturn are thought to be formed through a process in which a bunch of tiny ice particles gather together to form a solid core, which then absorbs gas to grow into the gas giants we know today.
“We have other evidence that this bottom-up approach forms these four planets in HR 8799,” Laurent Pueyo, an astronomer and co-author of the paper at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said in a statement to NASA. “How common are long-term planets that we can directly image in long-term planets? We don’t know yet, but we have further observations through Webb, inspired by our carbon dioxide diagnosis to answer this question.”
Unlocking the potential of James Webber Space Telescope
The James Webb space telescope deserves its flowers, too, because it shows that it can do more than just inferring the atmospheric composition of surgical planets from the measurements of starlight. In fact, it has demonstrated its ability to directly analyze the chemical composition of the atmosphere.
Usually, due to the large distance from us, JWST can hardly detect external planets. However, in this case, JWST’s Coronagraphs can be directly observed to prevent starlight from being launched to reveal other hidden worlds.
“It’s like putting your thumb in front of the sun when you look at the sky,” Balmer said. This setting is similar to a solar eclipse, allowing the team to look for infrared light at the wavelengths of planets that reveal specific gases and other atmospheric details.
“These huge planets have very important implications,” Balmer said. “If these giant planets cruise through our solar system like bowling, they could destroy, protect or in a sense do with planets like us. So a better understanding of their formation is crucial to understanding future formations, similar to the formation, survival and habitability of Earth-like planets.”
This story originally appeared in Wired enespañol and has been translated into Spanish.
