(ORDO NEWS) — The capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope have helped astronomers measure the temperature and other characteristics of a rocky exoplanet located in the Trappist-1 system for the first time.
We are talking about the planet Trappist-1b, which scientists call the cousin of the Earth.
The fact is that in its main parameters it is similar to our planet. This object is located in the Trappist-1 star system, discovered in 2017.
It is believed that at least seven rocky planets revolve around the parent star in this system, which are similar to the Earth in size and mass.
Therefore, they could potentially be habitable. Adding to the intrigue is that this system is only 40 light-years from Earth.
However, unlike our Sun, a dwarf star in this system is much colder, and the planets themselves are much closer to it than solid planets are to the Sun in our solar system.
In this regard, scientists were interested in the question of what surface temperature the planets of the Trappist-1 system might have.
For measurements, the instrumental capabilities of the recently launched Webb telescope were used. Astronomers have focused their attention on the planet Trappist-1b.
It is the closest to its star, so it turned out to be the easiest to detect. The measurements were carried out using a MIRI infrared instrument. He recorded changes in brightness as the planet orbited behind its star.
“Immediately before disappearing behind a star, the planet emits the most light,” explains study co-author Elsa Ducrot.
Given changes in brightness, the researchers calculated how much infrared light the planet itself emits. In other words, they used the MIRI device as a “giant non-contact thermometer”.
This made it possible to establish that the daily temperature of the planet reaches 230 degrees Celsius.
At the same time, scientists have found that heat is not distributed over the surface of the “cousin” of the Earth, as on our planet, which means that it probably does not have an atmosphere.
If the atmosphere still exists, then it must be very thin, scientists say.
In addition, it is already clear that even if a thin atmosphere exists on the planet, it does not contain carbon dioxide, because this gas would absorb some of the light.
The ability to analyze the potential atmospheres of rocky bodies opens up a “new era” in the study of planets outside our solar system, Ducrot said.
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