Detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of an exoplanet

Par Tristan Vey

Posted
on 08/30/2022 at 20:05, Update on 08/30/2022 at 20:05

The planet Wasp-39b is a gas giant the size of Saturn and is located so close to its star that the temperature there would be around 1000°C. ESA/Webb/NASA, ESA, CSA, and J. Olmsted (STScI)

DECRYPTION – The James Webb Space Telescope has succeeded in identifying the presence of carbon dioxide at a distance of 700 light years.

It is a discovery which, in a somewhat surprising way, has been widely reported in the media in recent days: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. If it is sometimes obvious to understand why journalists and the general public are enthusiastic about a scientific news – because it is of very great importance or spectacular for example – there are other situations in which this deciphering is more delicate. . We are exactly in this second scenario.

In this case, it is probably some sort of minor misunderstanding. For scientists, the news is important because it demonstrates the formidable capabilities of the newly commissioned James Webb Space Telescope to quickly identify molecules that were previously difficult to observe in the atmospheres of exoplanets. For the general public, it is probably the fact that this is the “first” detection…

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