James Webb Telescope: Alleged presence of water in the atmosphere of the Exoplanet Wasp-96 b
James Webb Telescope: Alleged presence of water in the atmosphere of the Exoplanet Wasp-96 b
Author: Hindemburg Melao Jr.
Reviewer: Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Numbering: Issue 30.B, Idea: Outliers & Outsiders (25)
Place of Publication: Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Title: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightjournal.com
Individual Publication Date: July 15, 2022
Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2022
Name of Publisher: In-Sight…
seeing WAYYYY too many people just ignoring the data Webb collected from an exoplanet, like it isn’t THE MOST detailed information we’ve received about any planet outside our solar system
Webb didn’t observe the atmosphere of a giant, Jupiter-sized planet orbiting its star in THREE DAYS over 1000 light years away, just for everyone to ignore it. just because it isn’t a pretty picture doesn’t mean it isn’t an astounding feat of science and technology.
Astronomers find exoplanet atmosphere free of clouds
Scientists have detected an exoplanet atmosphere that is free of clouds, marking a pivotal breakthrough in the quest for greater understanding of the planets beyond our solar system.
An international team of astronomers, led by Dr Nikolay Nikolov from the University of Exeter, have found that the atmosphere of the 'hot Saturn' WASP-96b is cloud-free.
Using Europe's 8.2m Very Large Telescope in Chile, the team studied the atmosphere of WASP-96b when the planet passed in front of its host-star. This enabled the team to measure the decrease of starlight caused by the planet and its atmosphere, and thereby determine the planet's atmospheric composition.
Just like an individual's fingerprints are unique, atoms and molecules have a unique spectral characteristic that can be used to detect their presence in celestial objects. The spectrum of WASP-96b shows the complete fingerprint of sodium, which can only be observed for an atmosphere free of clouds.
The results are published in the research journal Nature on May 7 2018.
WASP-96b is a typical 1300K hot gas giant similar to Saturn in mass and exceeding the size of Jupiter by 20%. The planet periodically transits a sun-like star 980 light years away in the southern constellation Phoenix, halfway between the southern jewels Fomalhaut (α Piscis Austrini) and Achernar (α Eridani).
It has long been predicted that sodium exists in the atmospheres of hot gas-giant exoplanets, and in a cloud-free atmosphere it would produce spectra that are similar in shape to the profile of a camping tent.
Nikolay Nikolov, lead author and from the University of Exeter said; "We've been looking at more than twenty exoplanet transit spectra. WASP-96b is the only exoplanet that appears to be entirely cloud-free and shows such a clear sodium signature, making the planet a benchmark for characterization.
"Until now, sodium was revealed either as a very narrow peak or found to be completely missing. This is because the characteristic 'tent-shaped' profile can only be produced deep in the atmosphere of the planet and for most planet clouds appear to get in the way."
Clouds and hazes are known to exist in some of the hottest and coldest solar system planets and exoplanets. The presence or absence of clouds and their ability to block light plays an important role in the overall energy budget of planetary atmospheres.
"It is difficult to predict which of these hot atmospheres will have thick clouds. By seeing the full range of possible atmospheres, from very cloudy to nearly cloud-free like WASP-96b, we'll gain a better understanding of what these clouds are made of; " explains Professor Jonathan J. Fortney, study co-author, based at the Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
The sodium signature seen in WASP-96b suggests an atmosphere free of clouds. The observation allowed the team to measure how abundant sodium is in the atmosphere of the planet, finding levels similar to those found in our own Solar System.
"WASP-96b will also provide us with a unique opportunity to determine the abundances of other molecules, such as water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide with future observations ," adds co-author Ernst de Mooij from Dublin City University.
Sodium is the seventh most common element in the Universe. On Earth, sodium compounds such as salt give sea water its salty taste and the white colour of salt pans in deserts.
In animal life, sodium is known to regulate heart activity and metabolism. Sodium is also used in technology, such as in the sodium-vapour street lights, where it produces yellow-orange light.
The team aims to look at the signature of other atmospheric species, such as water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes as well as telescopes on the ground.
An article published in the journal "Nature" describes a research on the exoplanet WASP-96b. It's a hot Saturn, meaning a gas giant with a Saturn-like mass and an orbit close to its star which has as a consequece a high temperature on its surface. A team of researchers led by Nikolay Nikolov of the British University of Exeter used the FORS2 spectrograph mounted on ESO's VLT to study WASP-96b discovering strong traces of sodium, an observation possible only in the absence of clouds in its atmosphere.
Un articolo pubblicato sulla rivista "Nature" descrive una ricerca sull'esopianeta WASP-96b. Si tratta di un saturniano caldo, cioè un gigante gassoso con una massa simile a Saturno e un'orbita vicina alla sua stella che ha come conseguenza un'elevata temperatura sulla sua superficie. Un team di ricercatori guidato da da Nikolay Nikolov dell'Università britannica di Exeter ha usato lo spettrografo FORS2 montato sul VLT dell'ESO per studiare WASP-96b scoprendo forti tracce di sodio, un'osservazione possibile solo in mancanza di nuvole nella sua atmosfera.
