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Nearby exoplanet could be first known ocean world: Webb telescope

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Nearby exoplanet could be first known ocean world: Webb telescope


An artist’s illustration of an planet — although not LHS 1140 b — exterior the Photo voltaic System.

A planet comparatively near Earth could possibly be the primary ever detected with a doubtlessly life-sustaining liquid ocean exterior our Photo voltaic System, based on scientists utilizing the James Webb space telescope.

Greater than 5,000 planets have been found exterior of the Photo voltaic System to date, however solely a handful are in what known as the “Goldilocks zone” — neither too sizzling or too chilly — that would host liquid water, a key ingredient for all times.

The exoplanet LHS 1140 b is without doubt one of the few on this habitable zone, and has been completely scrutinized because it was first found in 2017.

It sits 48 mild years from Earth, which equates to greater than 450 trillion kilometers (280 trillion miles) — comparatively shut within the huge distances of space.

The exoplanet had been regarded as a small gas giant known as a “mini-Neptune” with an environment too thick with hydrogen and helium to help alien life.

Nevertheless, new observations from the Webb telescope have confirmed that the exoplanet is in actual fact a rocky “super-Earth”.

It’s 1.7 occasions larger than Earth, however has 5.6 occasions its mass, based on a examine revealed late Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

‘Finest guess’ for ocean world

The Webb telescope was in a position to analyze the planet’s ambiance because it handed in entrance of its star.

There have been no indicators of hydrogen or helium, which dominated out that the planet was a mini-Neptune.

The density of the planet signifies that it “really has massive portions of water,” examine co-author Martin Turbet of France’s CNRS scientific analysis heart advised AFP.

It could possibly be a really immense quantity of water.

All of the water in Earth’s oceans represents solely 0.02 % of its mass. However 10 to twenty % of the exoplanet’s mass was estimated to be water.

Whether or not or not this water is in liquid or ice kind depends upon the planet’s ambiance.

“We don’t have direct proof that it has an environment, however a number of components level in that route,” Turbet mentioned.

Lead examine writer Charles Cadieux, a PhD scholar on the College of Montreal, mentioned that “of all presently identified temperate exoplanets, LHS 1140 b may nicely be our greatest guess to at least one day not directly affirm liquid water on the floor of an alien world”.

One optimistic is that the planet is gently warmed by its crimson dwarf star, which is one-fifth the dimensions of the Solar.

The exoplanet’s floor temperature needs to be pretty just like that on Earth and Mars, Turbet mentioned.

The presence of gasses equivalent to carbon dioxide will play a key position in figuring out whether or not the planet is roofed in ice or water.

Bull’s-eye ocean

One chance is that the floor is generally ice, however there’s a huge liquid ocean the place the planet is most uncovered to its star’s warmth.

This ocean may measure about 4,000 kilometers in diameter, round half the floor space of the Atlantic Ocean, modeling instructed.

Or the liquid water could possibly be hidden below a thick shell of ice, like on the moons Ganymede, Enceladus or Europa orbiting round Jupiter and Saturn.

Webb’s instrument noticed indicators that counsel “the presence of nitrogen,” Cadieux mentioned, including that extra analysis was wanted to substantiate the discovering.

Nitrogen is discovered in all places on Earth, and is regarded as one other potential ingredient for all times.

The researchers are hoping to get a number of extra hours of the Webb’s telescope’s treasured time to search out out extra about LHS 1140 b.

It would take a minimum of a 12 months to substantiate whether or not the exoplanet has an environment, and two or three extra to detect the presence of carbon dioxide, the researchers estimated.

Extra data:
Charles Cadieux et al, Transmission Spectroscopy of the Liveable Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140 b with JWST/NIRISS, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2406.15136

© 2024 AFP

Quotation:
Close by exoplanet could possibly be first identified ocean world: Webb telescope (2024, July 13)
retrieved 13 July 2024
from https://phys.org/information/2024-07-nearby-exoplanet-ocean-world-webb.html

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