The James Webb Space Telescope helped researchers map the climate of an exoplanet.

James Webb space telescope map of the climate of an exoplanet

An international team of researchers has successfully used the James Webb Space Telescope to map the climate of a hot gas giant exoplanet.

According to NASA, detailed observations in a wide range of mid-infrared light, along with 3D weather models and previous observations from other telescopes, show the presence of dense, high clouds that cover the sky during the day and night, as well as show tropical winds. They say they are merging atmospheric gases at 5,000 miles per hour around the exoplanet WASP-43 b.

This is the latest demonstration of exoplanet science, now made possible by James Webb’s extraordinary ability to probe temperature changes and detect atmospheric gases trillions of miles away.

The exoplanet WASP-43 b is a type of “Hot Jupiter”. This Jupiter-sized planet is made mostly of hydrogen and helium and is much hotter than the other giant planets in the solar system. Although its star is smaller and cooler than the Sun, WASP-43 b orbits at a distance of 1.3 million miles, less than one-twenty-fifth the distance between Mercury and the Sun.

With such an orbit, the planet is tidally locked; This means that one side is constantly lit and the other side is in permanent darkness. Although the night side never receives any direct radiation from the star, strong eastward winds carry heat from the day side around.

Since the discovery of the planet WASP-43 b in 2011, it has been observed by several telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. “With the Hubble Space Telescope, we can clearly see that there is water vapor on the day side of the planet,” said Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI) researcher Taylor Bell. Both Hubble and Spitzer showed that clouds may exist on the night side, but we needed more detailed surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope to begin mapping temperatures, cloud cover, winds, and atmospheric composition more precisely across the planet.

Although WASP-43 b is too small, faint, and too close to its star to be seen directly by a telescope, the planet’s short orbital period of just 19.5 hours makes it ideal for “phase curve spectroscopy.” The phase curve spectroscopic method involves examining small changes in the brightness of a star-planet system as the planet orbits the star.

Because the amount of mid-infrared light emitted by a body depends largely on how hot it is, James Webb’s brightness data can be used to calculate a planet’s temperature.

For more than 24 hours, the research team used James Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to measure the light of the WASP-43 system every 10 seconds. “By observing an entire orbit, we were able to calculate the temperature of different sides of the planet as it rotated into view,” Bell explained. Based on these calculations, we were able to create a map of the temperature of the entire planet.

Measurements show that the air temperature on the day side of the planet is close to 1250 degrees Celsius on average; While the temperature of the night side reaches 600 degrees Celsius and is significantly cooler. These data help locate the hottest spot on the planet, which is slightly eastward from the point receiving the most stellar radiation. This change occurs due to the blowing of winds that move the warm air towards the east.

“Michael Roman” (University of Leicester) researcher and one of the researchers of this project said: “The fact that we can map the temperature in this way is a real proof of James Webb’s sensitivity and stability.”

To interpret the map, the researchers used complex 3D atmospheric models, similar to those used to understand weather and climate on Earth. Analyzes show that the night side of the planet is probably covered in a dense and high layer of clouds, and this layer prevents part of the infrared light from reaching space. As a result, although the night side is very warm, it appears dimmer and cooler than when there are no clouds.

The broad spectrum of mid-infrared light taken by James Webb makes it possible to measure the amount of water vapor and methane around the planet. “Joanna Barstow”, a researcher at “The Open University of UK” and one of the researchers of this project, said: “James Webb has given us the opportunity to find out exactly which molecules we see and put limits on their abundance.”

The observed light spectra show clear signatures of water vapor on the planet’s nightside and dayside, providing additional information about the density of clouds and their height in the atmosphere.

Read more: The highest observatory in the world officially started its work

Also, the researchers were surprised to find that the data showed a lack of methane everywhere in the atmosphere. Because the day is too hot for methane to exist, methane should be cooler, stable, and detectable at night.

“The fact that we don’t see methane tells us that the wind speed on WASP-43 b must be about 5,000 miles per hour,” Barstow explained. If the winds move the gas from the day side to the night side of the planet and back again quickly, there won’t be enough time for the chemical reactions to produce detectable amounts of methane on the night side.

Researchers believe that because of this wind-driven mixing, the chemistry of the atmosphere is the same across the planet. This result was not clear in previous researches that were conducted with Hubble and Spitzer telescopes.

This research was published in “Nature Astronomy” magazine.

The Tokyo Atacama University Observatory, which has the title of the highest observatory in the world, is now ready for work.

The highest observatory in the world officially started its work

A new telescope, which is introduced as the highest observatory in the world, has been officially opened.

Tokyo Atacama University Observatory (TAO), which was first designed 26 years ago to study the evolution of galaxies and exoplanets, is located on top of a high mountain in the Chilean Andes at an altitude of 5,640 meters above sea level. . The height of this telescope even exceeds the “Atacama Large Millimeter Array” (ALMA), which is located at an altitude of 5050 meters.

The TAO observatory is located in a region where the high altitude, sparse atmosphere, and perpetually dry weather are deadly for humans, but it is an excellent spot for infrared telescopes like TAO because their observational accuracy relies on low humidity levels that keep the Earth’s atmosphere at wavelengths. Infrared makes it transparent.

Yuzuru Yoshii, a professor at the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), said: “Building a telescope on the top of the mountain was an incredible challenge, not only from a technical point of view but also from a political point of view.” I communicated with the indigenous people to ensure their rights and views were taken into account, with the Chilean government to obtain permits, with local universities for technical cooperation, and even with the Chilean Ministry of Health to ensure that people could climb safely at that altitude. to work

He added: The research that I have always dreamed of doing, thanks to everyone involved, will soon become a reality and I could not be happier.

The 6.5-meter TAO telescope has two science instruments designed to observe the world in infrared light. One such instrument, called SWIMS, will image galaxies in the early universe to understand how they formed from the merger of dust and pristine gas. Despite decades of research, the details of this process remain obscure. The second device, MIMIZUKU, will contribute to the mission’s overall goal by studying the primordial dust disks from which stars and galaxies formed.

Riko Senoo, a student at the University of Tokyo and a researcher on the TAO project, said: “The better astronomical observations of the real object, the more accurately we can reproduce what we see with our experiments on Earth.”

Masahiro Konishi, a researcher at the University of Tokyo, said: “I hope that the next generation of astronomers will use TAO and other ground-based and space-based telescopes to make unexpected discoveries that challenge our current understanding and provide the unexplained.”

Read more: Why there is no gaseous moon in solar system?

Before the newly opened telescope was built, Yoshi and his colleagues in 2009 also assembled a 1-meter telescope on top of Mt. This small telescope called “miniTAO” imaged the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Two years later, miniTAO received the Guinness World Record for being the highest astronomical observatory on Earth.

Although the observatory has been the talk of the town for the past 26 years, work on its construction site began in 2006. At that time, the first road to reach the summit was paved, and shortly after, a weather monitoring system was installed there.

Planets outside the solar system are called exoplanets. So far, more than 5000 exoplanets have been definitively discovered.

What is an exoplanet? Everything you need to know

For years, extrasolar planets have occupied the minds of scientists and dreamers. Since the discovery of the first stars in the night sky, man has been searching for the worlds that revolve around these stars. Are exoplanets rocky bodies similar to Earth? Can they have liquid water flow on their surface? Does the existence of essential elements for life in other worlds mean that we are not alone in this infinite world?

For thousands of years, humans have been trying to answer this question: Are we alone? Until the 1990s, astronomers had no evidence of exoplanets; But finally, in 1992, the first exoplanet was discovered. Since then, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered in different types and categories and have amazed scientists more than ever

Table of Contents

• What is an exoplanet?

• Types of extrasolar planets

• Stone worlds

• Gas giants

• Introduction of extrasolar planets

• TOI-1452b, a blue world candidate

• WASP-39b, the first planet with a carbon dioxide atmosphere

• WASP 103b, the rugby ball planet

• 51 Pegasi b; The first planet around a Sun-like star

• PSR B1620-26b; The oldest known planet

• Gliese 876d; rocky planet

• Kepler-11f; gas dwarf

• Kepler-452b; Earth-like planet

• Search for life in extrasolar planets

• Interesting facts about exoplanets

• Detecting the color of an exoplanet for the first time in 2013

• There are 10 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way

• NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered the most exoplanets

• The possibility of exoplanets around stars with high metallicity

• Using the gravitational microlensing method to observe exoplanets

• Most exoplanets were discovered through radial velocity

• The transit method is the easiest way to find exoplanets

• Exoplanets can orbit more than one star

• Exoplanets can have harsh climates

• Some exoplanets have strange orbits

• Exoplanets can have unique atmospheres

• Conclusion

What is an exoplanet?

Illustration of the exoplanet k12-18b, which is a super-Earth.

An exoplanet is a world outside the solar system in a different star system. Over the past two decades, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, and most of these discoveries belong to NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope.

Exoplanets have different sizes and orbits. Some of them are giant worlds near the host star and others are icy and rocky worlds. NASA and other space agencies are always on the lookout for a specific type of exoplanet: an Earth-like planet in the habitable belt of a Sun-like star.

The habitable zone is the region of a star’s orbit where the planet’s temperature allows surface liquid water to flow. The first definition of the life belt was based on the concept of heat balance, however, based on current calculations, it also includes other criteria such as the greenhouse effect of the planet’s atmosphere. For this reason, determining the boundaries of the life belt has become a little vague.

The Kepler Space Telescope, an observatory that started its operation in 2009 and continued to operate until 2018, has the honor of discovering the largest number of exoplanets. The telescope has definitively discovered 2,342 exoplanets and provided indications of the existence of another 2,245 planets.

Types of extrasolar planets

Our solar system is home to eight planets, divided into two groups: rocky planets and gas giants. The four inner planets of the solar system, namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are rocky. At the same time, the four outer planets of the solar system, namely Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are classified as gas giants. Most of the planets that were discovered in the orbit of other stars are either rocky or gas giants. However, gas and rock giants can be divided into groups and subgroups.

Stone worlds

An artist’s rendering of Kepler 22b, a distant, possibly super-Earth planet

Although exoplanets are classified in the group of rocky planets such as super-Earths or gas and ice giants and hot Jupiters, some planets violate the existing classifications and the number of these types of planets is increasing day by day. In this section, we introduce some of the most interesting exoplanets that have been discovered so far.

In the era of innovation, we are getting closer to the outside world every day. Searching for extrasolar planets has been one of the latest human space adventures. In this section, we discuss interesting facts and points about these mysterious objects.

The study and discovery of extrasolar planets began in the ’90s, But it was in 2013 that researchers were able to identify the color of an exoplanet for the first time. Based on a measure called reflectivity, astronomers obtained a dark blue color for the planet HD 189733b. It was from this point that the colors of other exoplanets were obtained. For example, the color of the planet GJ 504b is purple. According to astronomers, helium planets are mostly white or gray.

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, which was launched for the first time in 2009, was dedicated to the search for exoplanets. Initially, the Kepler mission was supposed to last only 3.5 years, however, this spacecraft continued its investigations until 2018. This telescope definitively discovered more than 2,600 exoplanets.

Most of the physical materials in the world are composed of hydrogen and helium. Metallicity is the term astronomers use to describe elements other than helium and hydrogen. According to data collected by the Kepler telescope, stars with more diverse elements are more likely to host exoplanets in their orbits.

In the gravitational microlensing method, a star other than the exoplanet host is used. When a star passes in front of another star, its gravity acts like a lens that magnifies the light of the other star. If the lensed star has a planet in its orbit, the exoplanet’s mass increases the magnification effect. Astronomers used this method to search for more than 20 exoplanets.

The general rule for identifying exoplanets is to observe the motion of their star. This method, which is also called Doppler oscillation, has been the most successful method for discovering exoplanets, so far 400 planets have been discovered this way. The radial velocity of the star changes due to the gravitational pull from the planet around it. In this case, the star seems to be sliding.

The transit method, which from our point of view is the burning of a star, is one of the common methods for discovering exoplanets. Using this method, astronomers can estimate the orbits and mass of exoplanets from Earth through their flickering frequency.

Unlike the Solar System, where planets orbit a single star, some planetary systems can have more than one star. These double or triple systems provide unique contexts with multiple radiation sources.

Some exoplanets show strange weather phenomena. Hot Jupiters, for example, can reach scorching temperatures and violent storms.

Not all exoplanets follow an elliptical or circular pattern of orbital motion. Some planets have eccentric, elongated orbits, taking an adventurous journey around the axis of their star. Exoplanets can have unique atmospheres

By analyzing the light passing through the atmosphere of exoplanets, scientists can gain interesting insights about the composition of these planets. The atmosphere of some extrasolar planets has elements such as iron vapor, carbon dioxide, and even methane.

An exoplanet is a planet outside the solar system that is classified into different groups and types. The first group are rocky planets similar to Earth or larger than Earth, which are also called super-Earths. Super-Earths can eventually become gas planets known as mini-Neptunes. The next group is the gas planets, which are divided into gas giants, ice giants, and hot Jupiters.

So far, more than 5000 exoplanets have been discovered and confirmed, and this number is increasing day by day. According to estimates, there are only 10 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. Earth-like planets are usually located in the life belts of their stars. In the zone of the life belt, the temperature of the planet is so suitable that it is possible for surface liquid water to flow on it, and this feature can increase the potential for life. Researchers hope to get more data from exoplanets by building more advanced telescopes because understanding exoplanets will help us to better understand our planet and the world around us.