Webb captures first clear evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of WASP-39 B, a gas giant closely orbiting a Sun-like star 700 light years away, NASA says.
Webb's highly sensitive NIRSpec can detect the small changes that the atmosphere has on the light, allowing scientists to determine its gas composition.
(AP Archive)
The months-old James Webb Space Telescope has added another major scientific discovery to its growing list: detecting for the first time signs of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.
Although the exoplanet would never be able to support life as we know it, the successful discovery of CO2 gives researchers hope that similar observations could be carried out on rocky objects more hospitable to life.
"My first thought: wow, we really do have a chance to detect the atmospheres of terrestrial-size planets," tweeted Natalie Batalha, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz and one of the hundreds who worked on the Webb project.
Their study of exoplanet WASP-39, a hot gas giant closely orbiting a star 700 light years away, will soon be published in the journal, Nature.
"For me, it opens a door for future research on super-Earths (planets larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune), or even Earth-sized planets," Pierre-Olivier Lagage, an astrophysicist with France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), told the AFP news agency.
READ MORE: Stunning images of Jupiter captured by James Webb telescope
Catch your breath — Webb has captured the first clear evidence of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of a planet outside of our solar system! WASP-39 B is a gas giant closely orbiting a Sun-like star 700 light years away: https://t.co/FenLqV6HSopic.twitter.com/abJvqxfLdG
'Special moment'
The detection of CO2 will also help scientists learn more about how WASP-39 formed, NASA said in a press release.
The exoplanet, which orbits its star once every four Earth days, has a mass one-quarter that of Jupiter but a diameter 1.3 times bigger.
The frequency of its orbit and large atmosphere made WASP-39 an ideal candidate for an early test of Webb's state-of-the-art infrared sensor, known as NIRSpec.
Each time the exoplanet crosses in front of its star, it blocks out an almost imperceptible amount of light.
But around the edges of the planet, a tiny amount of light passes through the atmosphere.
Webb's highly sensitive NIRSpec can detect the small changes that the atmosphere has on the light, allowing scientists to determine its gas composition.
The Hubble and Spitzer telescopes had already detected water vapour, sodium and potassium in WASP-39's atmosphere, but carbon dioxide can now be added to that list thanks to Webb and its NIRSpec instrument.
"It was a special moment, crossing an important threshold in exoplanet sciences," said Zafar Rustamkulov, a Johns Hopkins University researcher, in the NASA press release.
READ MORE:'Never seen before': Stunning images of cosmic cliffs, valleys and galaxies
Source: AFP
James Anderson has expressed his sadness at Trent Boult's request to be released from his central contract to improve his availability to T20 leagues, and fears Test cricket will struggle in the changing landscape.
Following conversations with New Zealand Cricket, Boult and the board agreed to a parting of ways that by no means ends the 33-year-old's international career, but will see it significantly reduced. In lieu of regular appearances for the Blackcaps, his focus instead will be the franchise circuit, including two lucrative new additions in the UAE and South Africa.
NZC chief executive David White told ESPNcricinfo he does not believe this will have a knock-on effect to others within the New Zealand set-up. However Anderson, who turned 40 last month and will pick up his 173rd cap in the first Test against South Africa on Wednesday, believes Boult's decision is a seismic event given where cricket is headed. He expects more bowlers in particular to go down this path given the rewards on offer.
Asked if he was saddened by Boult's decision, Anderson admitted he was "because Test cricket will probably bear the brunt of it. The easiest thing to do for bowlers is bowl four overs or 20 balls. It takes nothing out of you. And if you're getting paid just as well, it probably makes sense. It will tempt more people than not.
"It is [a big deal that Boult made this choice] because he is such a high-profile international player and I can definitely see it happening more and more now, particularly with bowlers."
Boult's citation of the schedule and spending more time to his family is something Anderson can appreciate. He knows his workload, significantly eased due to playing no white-ball cricket for England since the 2015 50-over World Cup, has contributed to his longevity. Likewise for his opening partner Stuart Broad, who last represented England in the limited-overs format in an ODI against South Africa in January 2016.
"I think Broady will say the same: that we were fortunate our white-ball careers pretty much ended after that World Cup and we could focus on red-ball cricket. That worked out great for us. In the future, I can see it definitely being the other way round - with people picking and choosing their formats, tours, whatever it might be."
"I feel proud to have got to where I have," Anderson said, reflecting on his feat of endurance. "I feel fortunate as well that I've still got the love for the game and the desire to get better and still do the training and the nets and whatever else that comes with it. Because with a lot of people that's the first thing that goes, and that's when you start slowing down and winding down. But for me, I feel like that passion is still there. So I feel fortunate for that. I feel fortunate that my body's still functioning properly and allowing me to do the job that I love."
As for who will be the next player to join that age-bracket, Anderson suggested his long-term partner Broad, who is already 36. However, his follow-up of who else spoke of his view of the game at the moment - a time when the future feels far more relevant than the present:
"Definitely not after that because no-one will be stupid enough. Everything that has gone in the world with franchise cricket, the Hundred, short forms of the game, I can't see anyone wanting to play Test cricket for this long."
As for future-proofing Test cricket, while boards need to assume most of the responsibility for doing so - if they wish - Anderson believes the current players are the ones who must continue to do their bit. Since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have taken over as head coach and captain of England's Test side, much has been made of how their style of cricket is making the longest format more attractive.
While most of that talk has been from English players, much to the derision of others, not least the Proteas who are motivated to burst the so-called "Bazball" bubble, the manner of four victories at the start of the summer against New Zealand and India has reignited the good feeling around the format. It is a responsibility Anderson feels should not be ignored.
"Even if we didn't play this way, I still think Test cricket is an amazing format. We've had some brilliant series and matches, not just involving us and between other teams around the world that have been brilliant to watch. So I hope people will see that and want to be a part of it, growing up wanting to play Test cricket.
"But, yes, 100 percent our job and responsibility as Test cricketers is to promote the game and encourage as many people as possible to watch it and play it when they get older."
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor for ESPNcricinfo
The James Webb Telescope has taken a new image of the most distant star, nearly 28 billion light years away, and has captured it in stunning detail.
Researchers were able to spot galaxies and had a glimpse of a star called Earendel using the telescope.
Earendel means 'morning or rising star' and is situated in a galaxy called Sunrise Arc. The star is aligned with the galaxy cluster providing maximum magnification.
Dan Coe at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland said, “Nobody’s ever seen a star this highly magnified, not to mention a galaxy.”
Since light takes time to travel, the pictures of the star Earendel are the way it was 900 million years ago, soon after the Big Bang.
JWST is expected to have its next round of observation in December which will reveal what Earendel and Sunrise Arc are composed of. Coe says, "We’re all made of starstuff, but that stuff wasn’t around in the early universe. This is a rare opportunity to see if the heavy elements were there in this star 13 billion years ago.”
Astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland wrote in a published paper, "JWST was designed to study the first stars. Until recently, we assumed that meant populations of stars within the first galaxies. But in the past three years, three individual strongly lensed stars have been discovered. This offers new hope of directly observing individual stars at cosmological distances with JWST."
