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Just over a twelvemonth after its long - delayed launch , NASA ’s James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) has spotted its firstexoplanetin what is being come as a major milestone for the spacecraft . The written report comes almost a year after thetotal routine of known exoplanets queer 5,000 . Exoplanets are planets that lie outside this solar system . The first confirmation of an exoplanet happened only in 1992 , but yard more have been detected since . Most exoplanets revolve around a star , but some are also ' rascal planet , ' which are rare cosmic bodies comparable in mass to regular planet but do not have a star to revolve around .
NASAhas confirmed the find of yet another exoplanet , this time spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope . Named LHS 475 b , the planet is almost identical in sizing to planet Earth , with 99 percent of Earth ’s diameter . However , even though it is an world - sized terrestrial planet , researchers are unsure whether it has an atmosphere . While researchers have not ruled out a pure carbon dioxide atmosphere , they consider it does n’t have a thick methane - dominate atmosphere , similar to that of Saturn ’s synodic month Titan .
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The Newly-Discovered Exoplanet Is Close To Earth
The LHS 475 b is 41 light - year away in the Octans configuration and is a few hundred level warmer than Earth . Due to its high temperature , any swarm detected on LHS 475 b would likely suggest that the major planet is more like Venus , which has a carbon dioxide atmosphere and is always covered in thick swarm . The LHS 475 b is"extremely close"to its reddened dwarf sensation and completes one orbit in just two years .
In a program line hailing the new discovery , Mark Clampin , Astrophysics Division managing director at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. , said that it could potentially aid researchersstudy rocky planet atmospheres with the JWST . Clampin said,“Webb is bring us closer and nigher to a new understanding of Earth - alike existence outside our solar arrangement , and the mission is only just getting started . "
According to NASA , among all the operational telescopes , only the JWST has the capability to characterise the atmospheres of Earth - sized exoplanets accurately . Given the capacity of the JWST , it is potential that NASA will someday be able to find out more about the atmosphere of the LHS 475 b. Either way , it will be interesting to see if an exoplanet will rick out to be potentially inhabitable , with NASA estimating that there are"hundreds of billions"of them inthe Milky Way galaxy . NASAbelieves that it could very well be the case , which will undoubtedly be a game - changer .
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author : NASA
Image Courtesy: NASA