Webb telescope directly observes exoplanet CO2 for first time
The James Webb Space Telescope has directly observed the key chemical of carbon dioxide in planets outside of our solar system for the first time, scientists announced Monday.
The gas giants are not capable of hosting extraterrestrial life, but do offer clues in a lingering mystery about how distant planets form, according to a study in The Astrophysical Journal.
The HR 8799 system, 130 light years from Earth, is only 30 million years old -- just a baby compared to our solar system's 4.6 billion years.
A US-led team of researchers used Webb to directly detect carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of all four of the system's known planets, according to the study.
They used Webb's coronagraph instruments, which block the light from bright stars to get a better view of the planets revolving around them.
"It's like putting your thumb up in front of the Sun when you're looking up at the sky," lead study author William Balmer, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP.
Normally, the Webb telescope only detects exoplanets by glimpsing them when they cross in front of their host star.
This "transiting method" was how Webb indirectly detected CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant WASP-39 in 2022.
But for latest discovery, "we're actually seeing the light that is emitted from the planet itself, as opposed to the fingerprint of that light from the host star," Balmer said. This is not easy -- Balmer compared the process to using a torch to spot fireflies next to a lighthouse.
While these gas giants may not be able to host life, it is possible that they had moons that could, he added.
There are missions currently under way to find out if there could be life in the vast oceans underneath the icy shells of several of Jupiter's moons.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
The darkness we need
The writer is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. She is a LUMS and Warwick alumnus Listen to article During a recent visit to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, I found myself standing before an exhibit of darkness. It showed how the natural night sky, once scattered with stars and galaxies, is vanishing under the steady glare of artificial light. In Pakistan, this issue rarely enters public discourse. We worry about electricity shortages, rising bills and climate change — but we seldom pause to consider how light itself, when misused, becomes pollution. Yet, in cities like Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, the stars have all but disappeared. What we once took for granted such as seeing constellations from a rooftop or watching a shooting star is now a fading memory, especially for children growing up under the sodium glow of streetlamps. Light pollution is more than a loss of wonder. It has measurable and growing impacts. Studies around the world show that excessive artificial light disrupts ecosystems by confusing migratory birds, insects and nocturnal animals. It alters feeding and breeding cycles and can even lead to species decline. For humans, the consequences are subtler but significant: overexposure to night-time lighting disturbs sleep, suppresses melatonin and contributes to increased rates of anxiety, fatigue and chronic illness. Then there is the energy question. Pakistan already struggles to meet its power demand. In this context, the sight of government buildings lit up through the night, of empty roads aglow at 3am, or of high-wattage billboards bathing intersections in harsh white light, is not just inefficient — it is irresponsible. Every unnecessary bulb draws from a grid under pressure, burns fuel and adds to carbon emissions. But this is not a hopeless story. Unlike other forms of pollution that linger in the air or water for years, light pollution is reversible — almost instantly. Cities can begin by adopting time-based lighting policies. Shops, billboards and public buildings do not need to be illuminated through the night. Smart lighting systems used in countries like the Netherlands dim streetlights in low-traffic areas after peak hours. This reduces energy usage and restores a semblance of night. Likewise, replacing current flood lights and streetlamps with shielded fixtures that direct light downward — not outward or upward — can dramatically reduce skyglow. Local governments can also reconsider how they retrofit cities with LED lighting. While LEDs are promoted for efficiency, their widespread, high-intensity use has worsened glare and disrupted the sleep cycles of both humans and animals. The solution isn't to reject LEDs but to use them wisely: warmer tones (below 3000K) should be prioritised, and installation must be coupled with shielding and dimming controls. Pakistan's natural landscape offers an incredible opportunity as well. Remote regions like Skardu, Hunza and Cholistan Desert already enjoy dark skies — these could be declared Dark Sky Reserves under international guidelines. Protected from over-illumination, these zones could foster astro tourism and conservation education, while showcasing the natural night sky to a global audience. Public awareness is perhaps the most powerful tool. School science programmes can introduce students to the science of stars and the need to preserve them. National campaigns, led by institutions like the Pakistan Science Foundation or SUPARCO, could highlight the connection between energy saving and sky restoration. Even small acts such as turning off garden lights or switching off billboard lights after hours make a difference when multiplied across a city. When I left the Smithsonian that day, I thought about my own country — and how a return to darkness might be, paradoxically, an act of light. In our drive toward progress, we often equate more light with more development. But maybe it's time to challenge that assumption. Not all darkness is backward, and not all light is good. Some light blinds. Some darkness reveals. In rediscovering the stars, we might just rediscover a more thoughtful, balanced way of living.
Business Recorder
5 days ago
- Business Recorder
Huge planet discovered orbiting tiny star puzzles scientists
PARIS: Astronomers announced Wednesday they have discovered a massive planet orbiting a tiny star, a bizarre pairing that has stumped scientists. Most of the stars across the Milky Way are small red dwarfs like TOI-6894, which has only 20 percent the mass of our Sun. It had not been thought possible that such puny, weak stars could provide the conditions needed to form and host huge planets. But an international team of astronomers have detected the unmistakable signature of a gas giant planet orbiting the undersized TOI-6894, according to a study in the journal Nature Astronomy. This makes the star the smallest star yet known to host a gas giant.
Express Tribune
02-06-2025
- Express Tribune
'From near-certainty to a coin flip'
The Milky Way may not have a catastrophic collision with another huge galaxy as has been predicted, computer simulations revealed Monday, giving our home galaxy a coin-flip chance of avoiding destruction. But don't worry either way: no galactic smash-up is expected for billions of years, long after our ageing Sun will have burnt away all life on Earth. The Milky Way and the even-larger galaxy Andromeda are speeding towards each other at 100 kilometres (60 miles) a second, and scientists have long predicted they will collide in around 4.5 billion years. That would be bad news for our neighbourhood. Previous research has suggested that the Sun -- and our Earth -- could wind up in the centre of this newly merged "Milkomeda" galaxy and get sucked into its supermassive black hole. Alternatively, the Sun could be shot out into the emptiness of intergalactic space. However, "proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated", according to a new study in the journal Nature Astronomy. There is only a roughly 50 per cent chance the Milky Way and Andromeda will smash into each other in the next 10 billion years, the international team of astrophysicists determined. "It's basically a coin flip," lead study author Till Sawala of the University of Helsinki told AFP. The researchers ran more than 100,000 computer simulations of our universe's future, using new observations from space telescopes. AFP
