Water vapor is a major breakthrough in the scientific search for exoplanets. According to the latest observations by the Webb Space Telescope, evidence of water vapor has been found around a distant exoplanet rocky planet, which may indicate the existence of an atmosphere around it.
The planet, named GJ 486 b, is about 26 light-years away from the Earth, has three times the mass of the Earth, but is less than one-third the size of the Earth; it orbits the red dwarf star GJ 486 (also known as Wolf 437), and its revolution period is less than 1.5 days, probably tidally locked by the parent star.
Red dwarfs are the most common stars in the universe, but red dwarfs are also cooler than other types of stars, so planets must orbit them closely to maintain surface liquid water. But too close to the red dwarf star may be stripped of the atmosphere by the intense ultraviolet and X-ray radiation emitted by the star. Therefore, many astronomers are keen to find out whether there are rocky planets in harsh environments that can form an atmosphere.
So the Webb telescope pointed to GJ 486 b to observe when the planet passed in front of the star. Although the temperature of this planet is as high as 430°C, it is reasonable to say that it cannot maintain liquid water, but astronomers still found traces of water vapor.
▲ The Webb Space Telescope found traces of water vapor in the GJ 486 system.
While the team can’t be sure that the water vapor is coming from the planet’s atmosphere or the star itself, Webb’s other instruments can study the planet at shorter infrared wavelengths to better pinpoint the source of the signal.
If it is finally determined that the source of the water vapor signal is a planet, this will be another bright spot after the Webb telescope discovered a planet with a toxic atmosphere and a planet without an atmosphere at all.
(Image source: NASA)
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