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    JWST tagged posts

    Webb spots first hints of atmosphere on a potentially habitable world

    October 4, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The Earth-size exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e, depicted at the lower right, is silhouetted as it passes in front of its flaring host star in this artist’s concept of the TRAPPIST-1 system.
    Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

    Hints of an atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1e raise hopes it could be a watery, potentially habitable world. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope are unraveling the mysteries of TRAPPIST-1e, an Earth-sized exoplanet 40 light years away that could harbor liquid water. Early data suggests hints of an atmosphere, but much remains uncertain. Researchers have already ruled out a hydrogen-rich primordial atmosphere, pointing instead to the possibility of a secondary atmosphere that could sustain oceans or ice.

    University of Bristol astrophysicists are helpin...

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    Mysterious ‘red dots’ in early universe may be ‘black hole star’ atmospheres

    September 15, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Mysterious 'red dots' in early universe may be 'black hole star' atmospheres
    Artist’s impression of a black hole star (not to scale). Mysterious tiny pinpoints of light discovered at the dawn of the universe may be giant spheres of hot gas that are so dense they look like the atmospheres of typical nuclear fusion-powered stars; however, instead of fusion, they are powered by supermassive black holes in their center that rapidly pull in matter, converting it into energy and giving off light. Credit: T. Müller/A. de Graaff/Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

    Tiny red objects spotted by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are offering scientists new insights into the origins of galaxies in the universe—and may represent an entirely new class of celestial object: a black hole swallowing massive amounts of matter and spitting out light.

    Using the first dat...

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    TRAPPIST-1e observations narrow down possibilities for atmosphere and surface water on elusive exoplanet

    September 9, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Transmission spectroscopy of the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1 e
    Scientists call this event a transit, when valuable data can be gathered as the exoplanet passes between the star and the telescope and starlight illuminates the atmosphere, if one is present. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made initial observations of planets b, c, d, and e during their transits, with additional observations of planet e underway. While the star’s frequent flares make it difficult to detect an atmosphere, each transit builds up more and more information for scientists to get a more complete picture of these distant worlds. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

    University of Bristol astrophysicists are helping shed new light on an Earth-sized exoplanet 40 light years away where liquid water in the form of a global ocean or icy expanse might exist on its surf...

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    Unusual COâ‚‚-rich disk detected around young star challenges planet formation models

    September 1, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Unusual carbon dioxide-rich disk detected around young star challenges planet formation models
    An image of the star-forming region NGC 6357 with the young star XUE 10. Observations with JWST/MIRI reveal a planet-forming disk whose spectrum shows clear detections of four distinct forms of carbon dioxide (CO2), but only little water, providing new insights into the chemical environment where planets are taking shape. Credit: Stockholm University (SU) and María Claudia Ramírez-Tannus, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA).

    A study led by Jenny Frediani at Stockholm University has revealed a planet-forming disk with a strikingly unusual chemical composition: an unexpectedly high abundance of carbon dioxide (CO2) in regions where Earth-like planets may one day form.

    The discovery, made using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), challenges long-standing assumptions about th...

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