Atmosphere for Rocky Exoplanet?
Video Player
Video Versions
Read the news release: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-102
Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Video imagery:
- Artist illustration of exoplanet 55 Cancri e and its star: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)
- Infographic showing light curve for exoplanet 55 Cancri e: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI).
- Infographic showing emission spectrum compared with model for exoplanet 55 Cancri e: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
Music from Music for Non-Profits
(DESCRIPTION)
A grid of photographs of celestial bodies moves up. A white line moves down and another across. Text, News from the universe. The text is above an image of Jupiter.
(SPEECH)
[COSMIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, May 23, 2024. Atmosphere for Rocky Exoplanet? Artist's Concept. A star shines toward a dark sphere. Text, In its latest display of its unprecedented abilities, the James Webb Space Telescope has found evidence suggesting an atmosphere around the hot, rocky exoplanet Janssen (55 Cancri e).
A key clue is the temperature of the planet's gases: a relatively low 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,540 Celsius) on the side of the planet that permanently faces its star.
Graphic, Super-Earth Exoplanet 55 Cancri e Secondary Eclipse Light Curve.
Text, The temperature "is a very strong indication that energy is being distributed from the dayside to the nightside, most likely by a volatile-rich atmosphere," said researcher Renyu Hu.
A dip in the spectrum detected by Webb suggests the presence of an atmosphere containing carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, likely created by outgassing from a molten surface. Graphic, Super-Earth Exoplanet 55 Cancri e Emission Spectrum.
Text, The finding is important for exoplanet science because, before Webb, atmospheres for small, rocky exoplanets have been very difficult to detect. A closer view of the emission spectrum.
(SPEECH)
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, While Janssen is too hot to be habitable for life as we know it, it could provide insights into early conditions on Earth and Mars, which are thought to have once been covered in magma oceans.
The star shines toward the dark sphere and illuminates the sun-facing side.
Text, This news was brought to you in part by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.