Weber spy’s first direct carbon dioxide external solar system image

For the first time, scientists directly image carbon dioxide in the planetary atmosphere outside the solar system, providing unprecedented insight into how the huge world was formed. Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to capture these breakthrough observations of these planets, a system that is 130 light-years away from Earth.

The discovery, published yesterday in the journal Astrophysics, reinforces the evidence that giant planets in distant astral systems are likely formed through the same process of creating Jupiter and Saturn in our own cosmic community.

The researchers focused their observations on HR 8799, a stellar system containing four giant planets that has fascinated astronomers since its discovery in 2008. By analyzing specific wavelengths of infrared light from these worlds, the team confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide and other heavy elements.

“By discovering these powerful carbon dioxide characteristics, we have shown that there are considerable heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen and iron in the atmosphere of these planets,” explains William Balmer, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University. “Given our knowledge of star orbits, this may indicate that they are formed through core accumulation, which is an exciting conclusion for the planets we can see directly.”

Core accumulation – gradually building solid planet cores and ultimately attracting natural gas – is one of the two main theories of how giant planets are formed. Alternative theory shows that they can quickly form directly from the cooling disk of young stars. New discoveries help scientists distinguish these competitive models.

The excellent features of the Weber Telescope allow the team to see these faraway worlds directly, a feat that remains extremely challenging. Compared to their host stars, most exoplanets are too weak to be imaged directly. Webb uses a dedicated instrument called CORONAGRAPH, which can block overwhelming light from stars, and Webb is able to reveal what was originally hidden.

“Our hope for this kind of research is to understand our own solar system, life and ourselves compared to other hypergoal systems so that we can contextualize our existence,” Balmer said. “We want to take pictures of other solar systems and compare them to us, they are similar or different from us.

The observation also includes another planetary system called 51 Eridani, which is located 96 light years away. The team was able to target specific wavelengths of light that used Weber’s specialized instruments to reveal information about the composition of the atmosphere.

Laurent Pueyo, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, who co-led the work, pointed out the importance of these findings. “We have other evidence that these four HRs 8799 planets form these four HRs through this bottom-up approach,” he said. “How common are long-term planets we can directly image, but we have raised more Webb observations inspired by carbon dioxide diagnosis to answer that question.”

This is not the first time Webber has detected carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. In 2022, the telescope detects carbon dioxide indirectly in a planet called WASP-39 B, by measuring how the planet’s atmosphere changes starlight as it passes in front of its stars. The new discovery represents the first direct imaging of carbon dioxide in exoplanets.

“This is what scientists have done for transit planets or isolated brown dwarves since the launch of JWST.” Pueyo explains, distinguishing between different observation techniques.

Rémi Soummer directed the Optical Laboratory at the Space Telescope Science Institute, formerly led Weber’s Coronagraph Operations, said: “We know that JWST can measure the color of the shell in a system that is directly imaging, and we have been waiting for 10 years to confirm that our telescopes have a good access to our inner range.”

These implications are more than merely understanding how these particular planets are formed. As Balmer explains, giant planets can significantly affect the development of a smaller, potentially inhabited world like ours.

“These huge planets have a big impact,” Balmer said. “If you have these huge planets, like bowling balls running in the solar system, they can really destroy, protect or do a little bit of a planet like us, so knowing more about their strata is a key step in understanding future strata, survival and habitability of planets like Earth.”

The research team plans to expand its analysis to larger planets, comparing its composition with theoretical models. As Weber continues to reveal the chemical makeup of the far-flung world, scientists are steadily pieced together a more comprehensive understanding of how planetary systems, including our own, become reality.