NASA's Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet | 蜜桃传媒: 蜜桃传媒 for Journalists

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, D. Player (STScI)

This artist鈥檚 concept shows what the hot sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b could look like. TOI-421 b orbits a Sun-like star roughly 244 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lepus (the Hare). The planet is in between Earth and Neptune in terms of size, mass, and density, and its star is slightly smaller and cooler than the Sun. However, because the planet orbits extremely close to the star (just 0.056 astronomical units, or 5.6% of the distance between Earth and the Sun), it is very hot.

« NASA's Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

A transmission spectrum captured by NASA鈥檚 James Webb Space Telescope reveals the presence of water (H2O) and the possible presence of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO), but no signs of carbon dioxide (CO2) or methane (CH4), in the atmosphere of the hot sub-Neptune exoplanet TOI-421 b. The observations support the hypothesis that planets this hot (TOI-421 b is about 1,340掳F) have clear atmospheres that are not obscured by clouds and haze.

« NASA's Webb Lifts Veil on Common but Mysterious Type of Exoplanet

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