"The NASA telescope will inspect the atmospheres of giant gas exoplanets"

WASHINGTON: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will examine the atmospheres of gas giant exoplanets before searching for potentially habitable worlds, the US Space Agency said. The telescope, a scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is expected to be launched in March 2021.

In the end, Webb will target the planets orbiting the red dwarf stars since these stars are smaller and weaker, making it easier to unravel the signal of a planet in orbit, indicated the NASA in a statement.

Red dwarfs are also the most common stars in our galaxy.

The Exoplanets Project team in transit at the center of Webb's scientific operations plans to perform three different types of observations that will provide both new scientific knowledge and a better understanding of the performance. Webb's scientific instruments.

"We have two main objectives: the first is to transfer Webb's exoplanet datasets as quickly as possible to the astronomical community, the second to make great science for astronomers and the public. can see how powerful this observatory is, "said Jacob Bean of the University of Chicago, a co-principal investigator on the project of exoplanets in transit.

"Our team aims to provide the astronomical community with critical knowledge and knowledge that will help catalyze exoplanet research and use Webb on time," said Natalie Batalha of the Ames Research Center. The NASA. the principal investigator of the project.

When a planet pbades by, or transits, its star host, starlight is filtered through the atmosphere of the planet. The molecules present in the atmosphere absorb certain wavelengths or colors of light.

By dividing starlight into a rainbow spectrum, astronomers can detect these sections of missing light and determine which molecules are in the atmosphere of the planet.

For these observations, the project team selected WASP-79b, a planet the size of Jupiter located about 780 light-years from Earth.

The team expects to detect and measure the abundance of water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in WASP-79b. Webb could also detect new molecules not yet seen in exoplanet atmospheres.

Planets that orbit very close to their stars tend to be locked. One side of the planet is permanently facing the star while the other side is facing, just as one side of the moon is still facing the earth.

When the planet is in front of the star, we see it's back cooler. But as it is in orbit around the star, more and more of the hot side of the day appears, NASA said.

By observing an entire orbit, astronomers can observe these variations and use the data to map the temperature, clouds, and chemistry of the planet as a function of longitude.

The team will observe a phase curve of the "hot Jupiter" known as WASP-43b, which orbits around its star in less than 20 hours. By looking at different wavelengths of light, they can sample the atmosphere at different depths and get a more complete picture of its structure.
"We have already seen dramatic and unexpected variations for this planet with Hubble and Spitzer. With Webb, we will reveal these variations in a much more detailed way to understand the physical processes that are responsible," said Bean.