Webb telescope shows fantastic powers by zooming into alien planet

The rocky worlds of the TRAPPIST solar system have captivated scientists.

Until recently, these Earth-sized planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, have remained largely mysterious. But researchers suspect some could host water, and maybe even conditions suitable for extraterrestrial life. With the power of the James Webb Space Telescope — the most advanced space observatory ever built — astronomers can analyze these worlds in unprecedented detail. So far, Webb has viewed the two closest planets to their star, TRAPPIST-1.

Scientists recently trained the Webb telescope on TRAPPIST-1 c, the second of the seven-known TRAPPIST planets, and one that orbits just some 1.5 million miles from its small "red dwarf" (also called an "M dwarf&quot star. They published(opens in a new tab) the research in the science journal Nature. Astronomers found this hot planet likely doesn't harbor a thick atmosphere (perhaps similar to Venus), as astronomers once speculated, and instead has little to no water and isn't a great candidate for habitability. There are more TRAPPIST planets, however, for Webb to deeply observe.

"TRAPPIST-1 c is interesting because it’s basically a Venus twin: It’s about the same size as Venus and receives a similar amount of radiation from its host star as Venus gets from the sun," Laura Kreidberg, an exoplanet researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and a study coauthor, said in a statement(opens in a new tab). "We thought it could have a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere like Venus."

(The planet is hot, at some 225 degrees Fahrenheit on its dayside, but not nearly as warm as scorching Venus, which is as hot as a pizza oven.)

https://mashable.com/article/james-webb-space-telescope-trappist-planet

My inner 10 year old wannabe astronomer is agog.......