JWST tagged posts

Astronomers discover a Key Planetary System for Understanding Formation Mechanism of Mysterious ‘Super-Earths’

Astronomers from the University of Liège and CSIC discover a key planetary system to understand the formation mechanism of the m
Artist’s view of the TOI-2096 system. Credit: Lionel J. Garcia / ULiège

A study led by researchers of the University of Liège and the CSIC—using observations from NASA’s TESS telescope—presents the detection of a system of two planets slightly larger than Earth orbiting a cold star in a synchronized dance. Named TOI-2096, the system is located 150 light-years from Earth.

The discovery is the result of a close collaboration between European and American universities and was made possible by the US space mission TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which aims to find planets orbiting nearby bright stars.

“TESS is conducting an all-sky survey using the transit method, that is, monitoring the stellar brightness of thousands of stars in the search for a slight dimming, ...

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James Webb Space Telescope Images Challenge Theories of how Universe Evolved

Six candidate galaxies
Images of six candidate massive galaxies, seen 500-800 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/I. Labbe

Astronomers find that six of the earliest and most massive galaxy candidates observed by the James Webb Space Telescope so far appear to have converted nearly 100% of their available gas into stars, a finding at odds with the reigning model of cosmology.

The JWST appears to be finding multiple galaxies that grew too massive too soon after the Big Bang, if the standard model of cosmology is to be believed.

In a study published in Nature Astronomy, Mike Boylan-Kolchin, an associate professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, finds that six of the earliest and most massive galaxy candidates observed by JWST so far stand to contradict the preva...

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New Webb Telescope image reveals Wonders, Beauty, Secrets of Star Structure and Building Blocks of life

milisavljevic-cassiopeia
Danny Milisavljevic’s research on the James Webb Space Telescope led to his new detailed image of stellar remnant Cassiopeia A in which infrared light is translated into visible-light wavelengths. (NASA image)

To gaze at the stars is human. To be able to see them in 3D detail is very nearly divine.
Divine vision is what the James Webb Space Telescope has granted Earthbound scientists in a new near-infrared, detailed image of Cassiopeia A (Cas A), a stellar remnant—the clouds of gas, dust and other material left behind when a star dies. Danny Milisavljevic, assistant professor of physics and astronomy in Purdue University’s College of Science, studies supernova remnants and leads a year one research team on the JWST examining Cas A.

“I have spent 17 years studying stars and their ...

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JWST confirms Giant Planet Atmospheres Vary Widely

An international team of astronomers has found the atmospheric compositions of giant planets out in the galaxy do not fit our own solar system trend.

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the researchers discovered that the atmosphere of exoplanet HD149026b, a ‘hot Jupiter’ orbiting a star comparable to our sun, is super-abundant in the heavier elements carbon and oxygen — far above what scientists would expect for a planet of its mass.

These findings, published in “High atmospheric metal enrichment for a Saturn-mass planet” in Nature on March 27, provide insight into planet formation.

“It appears that every giant planet is different, and we’re starting to see those differences thanks to JWST,” said Jonathan Lunine, professor in the physical sciences at Cornell Univ...

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