James Webb discovers water vapor around exoplanet. Not feasible to settle on GJ 486 b.

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Foto: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI)

James Webb discovers water vapor around exoplanet

Not feasible to settle on GJ 486 b

Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JSWT) to observe water vapor around the exoplanet GJ 486 b, a so-called "super-Earth" that orbits a red dwarf in the constellation Virgo, 26 light-years away from us.

GJ 486 b is about 30 percent larger than Earth and has three times Earth's mass. The planet completes one orbit around its star in about 1.5 days, and it is so close to the star that its surface temperature is believed to be over 400 degrees Celsius. This means that the planet is not in the so-called habitable zone, the area around a star where life as we know it could exist.

Uncertainty about the source of water vapor around GJ 486 b

Astronomers are also unsure whether the water vapor around GJ 486 b comes from the planet itself or from the star it orbits. In a statement, they write:

"The water vapor could be from an atmosphere enveloping the planet, in which case it would need to be continually replenished due to losses from stellar irradiation. But an equally likely possibility is that the water vapor is actually from the outer layer of the planet’s cool host star."

Future observations to determine if the planet has an atmosphere

Astronomers will now begin observing GJ 486 b with another instrument on the JWST to try to determine whether the planet actually has an atmosphere or if the water vapor originates from the star it orbits.

webbtelescope.org

Cars,

James Webb Space Telescope, GJ 486 b, red dwarf, Virgo, habitable zone

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