The new scenes of Toi-421 B give information about how the most common type of planet can be formed in the galaxy.
The concept of this artist shows what the hot sub-neptune exoplanet toi-421B can look like. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STSCI)
Beyond our solar system, sub-naptunes-Gesi planets rule as the most common type of exoplanet seen in our galaxies, larger than the Earth but smaller than Neptune. Despite their spread, there is no such planet around our Sun, so this world is immersed in mystery. NASA’s James Web Space Telescope (JWST) recently visited the exoplanet toi-421B, whose unique atmospheric conditions are now able to understand scientists in unprecedented detail.
A unique opportunity
The sharp eye of JWST on the infrared universe is uniquely suited to study the exoplanet atmosphere. “I was waiting for my entire career for the web so that we could portray the atmosphere of these small planets meaningfully,” Eliza Kempon, College Park, Principal Investigator and Co-Article of the University of Maryland explained to a co-artist of a study published in a NASA news. “By studying our atmosphere, we are gaining a better understanding of how the formation of sub-naptunes was formed and developed, and its part is understanding why they do not exist in our solar system.”
Before NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope discovered him, sub-neptunes were unknown just 10 years ago. These planets are many times larger than the Earth, but the gas giants are smaller than Jupiter and Saturn, offering significant observation challenges because their relatively quiet atmosphere appears heavily from the clouds or threats produced by methane gas. When researchers saw such a planet pass in front of their star and saw starlight filtering through the atmosphere for clues for their composition, those clouds produced flat, featureless spectra that provided very little information. However, scientists envisaged that planets with temperatures above 1,070 ° F (580 ° C) may have a clear environment due to the absence of methane at such a temperature-and thus, no methane-tringer.
But toi-421 b is different. As a so-called warm sub-neptune with a temperature of about 1,340 f (730 c), Toi-421 B presented an ideal candidate to test the principle. Gamble paid – Space telescope successfully detects spectral characteristics, which reveals the atmospheric composition of the planet as it passes in front of its star.
In the air
A team from the University of Maryland probably identified water vapor with carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, while methane and carbon dioxide were particularly absent.
The most surprising discovery was that the atmosphere of toi-421 B appears to dominate hydrogen, opposite with pre-observed sub-naptunes. This hydrogen-rich composition reflects the host star like the Sun of the Toi-421 B, suggests that this planet forms more like the vast planets of our solar system, which we have found than other sub-neptunes, most of which revolve around small, cooler red dwarf stars.
Researchers now expect to inspect more hot sub-naptunes around the stars like the sun, whether toi-421 b represents a broader tendency or a unique case. “We have unlocked a new way to see these sub-naptunes,” said the first writer and Maryland PhD University of the study. Student Brian Devanport, who provided the primary analysis of exoplanet. “These high-temperature planets are responsible for characterization. So by looking at the sub-naptunes of this temperature, we are probably more likely to accelerate our ability to know about these planets.”
Team conclusions, published in The astrophizical journal letters On May 5, exoplanetic shows the transformational effect of JWST on research, these generals yet provide new insight into the formation and development of the esoteric world.
