NASA’s James Webb Telescope finds traces of water on a planet 12 times the size of Jupiter

Another groundbreaking discovery by Webb on an alien world has scientists baffled.

The James Webb, NASA’s most powerful space telescope, carefully observed WASP-18 b, which is located 400 light-years from Earth. 2009 saw the initial discovery of an extraterrestrial world. It is nine times more massive than Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, which is what makes it so intriguing.

Water vapor was found in WASP-18 b’s atmosphere, and scientists charted the temperature of the planet as it plunged behind and then re-emerged from its star. this phenomenon is called ‘secondary eclipse’

The planet orbits its star for about 23 hours and it always faces the same side of the star. From the planet’s hottest point facing the star to the ‘terminator’, where the tidally locked planet’s day and dark side meet in continuous twilight, a significant temperature change of up to 1,000 degrees is seen on the planet’s brightness map. ,

The planet’s terminator was discovered to be quite cold, indicating that there may be a barrier preventing the winds from effectively carrying heat into the night side. The factor remains a mystery.

See also: This Saturn moon oozes water beyond scientists’ wildest dreams

The researchers observed temperature variations between different layers of the planet’s atmosphere at different altitudes. As altitude increased, they observed that the temperature also increased, with fluctuations over several hundred degrees.

Even though the planet’s surface reaches critical temperatures of about 5,000 °F (2,700 °C), the planet’s atmospheric spectra clearly show several small water features that were properly assessed.

This is important because water molecules usually break down at such high temperatures. The fact that such water features can still be observed highlights the incredible ability of the Webb telescope to detect any remnants of water.

Water vapor is present at different altitudes in WASP-18b’s atmosphere, according to the measurements.

Cover Image: NASA

Another groundbreaking discovery by Webb on an alien world has scientists baffled.

The James Webb, NASA’s most powerful space telescope, carefully observed WASP-18 b, which is located 400 light-years from Earth. 2009 saw the initial discovery of an extraterrestrial world. It is nine times more massive than Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, which is what makes it so intriguing.

Water vapor was found in WASP-18 b’s atmosphere, and scientists charted the temperature of the planet as it plunged behind and then re-emerged from its star. this phenomenon is called ‘secondary eclipse’

The planet orbits its star for about 23 hours and it always faces the same side of the star. From the planet’s hottest point facing the star to the ‘terminator’, where the tidally locked planet’s day and dark side meet in continuous twilight, a significant temperature change of up to 1,000 degrees is seen on the planet’s brightness map. ,

The planet’s terminator was discovered to be quite cold, indicating that there may be a barrier preventing the winds from effectively carrying heat into the night side. The factor remains a mystery.

See also: This Saturn moon oozes water beyond scientists’ wildest dreams

The researchers observed temperature variations between different layers of the planet’s atmosphere at different altitudes. As altitude increased, they observed that the temperature also increased, with fluctuations over several hundred degrees.

Even though the planet’s surface reaches critical temperatures of about 5,000 °F (2,700 °C), the planet’s atmospheric spectra clearly show several small water features that were properly assessed.

This is important because water molecules usually break down at such high temperatures. The fact that such water features can still be observed highlights the incredible ability of the Webb telescope to detect any remnants of water.

Water vapor is present at different altitudes in WASP-18b’s atmosphere, according to the measurements.

Cover Image: NASA