The Webb telescope is about to home in on these 2 exoplanets. Here is the reason.
I James Webb Space Telescope will soon start a a great study of rocky lands outside the solar system, especially to find out whether planets orbiting small, cool stars can have an atmosphere.
Scientists plan to start with LTT 1445 Ac and GJ 3929 b, and although those exoplanets they may not be household names, they are interesting, close-to-Earth topics space. Each was found two years ago using NASAThe Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite while surveying thousands of stars.
LTT 1445 Ac it is about the size of Earth and 22 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The planet orbits the star LTT 1445 A, part of three small red stars. GJ 3929 b slightly larger and heavier than Earth, located about 52 light-years away in the constellation Corona Borealis.
These two worlds are ideal first target of a mission that will take a closer look at twelve nearby planets over the next two years. The show, first reported by Mashable, will budget 500 hours to watch The Webb telescopeand about 250 ultraviolet spectra with the Hubble Space Telescope to help reveal astronomical activity.
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Scientists have yet to find a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere. But now they have a plan.
In addition to Webb, the new survey will include about 250 orbits of ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Credit: Adrian Mann / Stocktrek Images / Getty Images illustration
Jennifer Lotz, who oversees Webb and Hubble operations at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, has been initiated a survey that uses the director’s supervision time, in the same way that revolutionary scientific campaigns such as Hubble deep field images it was fulfilled.
Most astrologers agree with that to get a breath important in searching for habitable lands. NASA has playfully called the Earth’s atmosphere itself its “security blanket”: Without it, the kind of life that thrives here would not exist. This cocoon traps oxygen in the air and filters out harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, all of which keep our planet warm. In addition, it creates pressure that allows liquid water to condense on the surface.
Artist imagines LTT 1445 Ac, an exoplanet about 22 light-years from Earth in the triple red star system.
Credit: NASA / ESA / Leah Hustak illustration
Red dwarf stars, sometimes called M-type stars, are the most common stars in the Milky Way, yet no one knows what planets orbit them. it can hold in spacesaid Néstor Espinoza, the astronomer in charge of the implementation of this program.
There is an important difference between the probe’s first two targets and Earth: Both are very close to their stars, with ages only about three Earth days. That may not be a problem, given that host stars are not as hot as the sunbut can the universe survive this stellar radiation?
“This is one of those high-risk, high-reward programs,” Espinoza told Mashable. “Imagine that for all intents and purposes, we see space. Then you answer the question, ‘Yes, space is very common around these stars. That means that maybe life could evolve.’ On the other hand, if you find out that none of them have weather, that would be very sad, but it would also mean that our planetary system is really special.