Though we all have differences, there’s one commonality that has prevailed for all of humanity: we are all floating on a rock, flying through outer space at over a million miles an hour.
Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology in the past century, we can observe much more of the universe than we ever thought possible.
The scale and sheer size of the universe make it impossible to truly learn everything, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Here's what's happening in space this week.
JWST DISCOVERS MYSTERIOUS WATER VAPOR AROUND GJ 486 B
The James Webb Space Telescope may have just uncovered another monumental scientific breakthrough. On Monday, NASA announced that astronomers detected water vapor around a distant rocky planet with the help of JWST.
Using Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), astronomers analyzed GJ 486 b, a rocky exoplanet located 26 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
GJ 486 b orbits a red dwarf star, which is the most common star in our universe, according to NASA. Red dwarf stars have a relatively low temperature, reaching just over 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit at their hottest. This leaves rocky planets orbiting a red dwarf with a limited habitable zone, and GJ 486 b is too close to its star to be considered habitable.
However, the data collected from Webb detected signs of water vapor, despite the planet's scorching 800-degree Fahrenheit surface temperature.
“We see a signal, and it’s almost certainly due to water. But we can't tell yet if that water is part of the planet's atmosphere, meaning the planet has an atmosphere, or if we’re just seeing a water signature coming from the star,” said lead author of the study, Sarah Moran.
While we know for certain the planet isn't habitable, astronomers are exploring the possibility of a rocky planet like GJ 486 b maintaining or restoring an atmosphere in such a harsh environment.
Kevin Stevenson is the principal investigator on the program behind the new findings titled 'Tell Me How I'm Supposed To Breathe With No Air.' He says that while confirmation of this discovery would be huge, scientists still need to confirm the origin of the water vapor.
“Water vapor in an atmosphere on a hot rocky planet would represent a major breakthrough for exoplanet science. But we must be careful and make sure that the star is not the culprit,” he said.
Astronomers detected the water vapor after observing GJ 486 b as it passed between our view and its star. Scientists refer to this as a 'transit.' Astronomers use transmission spectroscopy to analyze the data obtained from the passage of light through the planet's atmosphere.
The team deduced that water vapor is most likely present, which could indicate an atmosphere around GJ 486 b. However, it's also possible that the water may be from the red dwarf star.
According to NASA, water vapor can occasionally be found in sunspots, even on our own Sun. Considering GJ 486 b's host star is much smaller and cooler than the Sun, it may hold a more considerable amount of water and give the illusion of a planetary atmosphere from our perspective.
“We didn't observe evidence of the planet crossing any starspots during the transits. But that doesn't mean that there aren't spots elsewhere on the star. And that's exactly the physical scenario that would imprint this water signal into the data and could wind up looking like a planetary atmosphere,” said the study's co-author, Ryan MacDonald.
While the water vapor's origin is still a mystery, future studies using Webb's other scientific instruments may provide more insight into the nature of GJ 486 b.
“It’s joining multiple instruments together that will really pin down whether or not this planet has an atmosphere,” said Kevin Stevenson.
The study containing the new findings has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and can be found here.
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