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NASA's Webb Will Seek Atmospheres around Potentially Habitable Exoplanets

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February 05, 2020 10:00AM (EST)Release ID: 2020-13
Artist's concept of seven rocky exoplanets within the Trappist-1 system and their host star. This vertically oriented illustration looks like a series of small balls set on a black-mirror table top. At left is a representation of the system’s star, which is the largest ball and set off in shades of orange. It reflects on the table below it. Moving to the right, there are seven far smaller balls sitting on the table, each on top of a gray circle that indicates its orbit around the Sun. From the first to the third planet, a white haze hangs in the air, reaching just above the star. Between the fourth and fifth planets are globs of water, one as wide as the planets, but many far smaller. Between the sixth and seventh planets’ orbits are feather-like formations of ice. The ice spreads from the left side to the right along their orbits.

Summary

Larger, gas giant exoplanets will also fall under Webb’s gaze

The TRAPPIST-1 system of exoplanets holds exciting possibilities in the search for potentially habitable worlds. In this system an ultra-cool star is orbited by seven rocky, Earth-sized worlds, three of which are in the “Goldilocks” zone where liquid water might exist on their surfaces. However, to have liquid water they would also need a protective atmosphere. 

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will observe those worlds to determine whether any of them have an atmosphere. Either way, the answer will help us determine how hard (or easy) it is for similar planets to hold onto their atmospheres under a barrage of stellar winds and radiation.

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Full Article

This month marks the third anniversary of the discovery of a remarkable system of seven planets known as TRAPPIST-1. These seven rocky, Earth-size worlds orbit an ultra-cool star 39 light-years from Earth. Three of those planets are in the habitable zone, meaning they are at the right orbital distance to be warm enough for liquid water to exist on their surfaces. After its 2021 launch, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will observe those worlds with the goal of making the first detailed near-infrared study of the atmosphere of a habitable-zone planet. To find signs of an atmosphere, astronomers ...

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News releases highlighting the discoveries of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, under NASA Contract NAS5-03127. News release content is developed by the News Team in STScI’s Office of Public Outreach.

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