James Webb Space Telescope's First Spectrum of a TRAPPIST-1 Planet (phys.org) 28
Tablizer shares a report from Space.com: In a solar system called TRAPPIST-1, 40 light years from the sun, seven Earth-sized planets revolve around a cold star. Astronomers obtained new data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on TRAPPIST-1 b, the planet in the TRAPPIST-1 solar system closest to its star. These new observations offer insights into how its star can affect observations of exoplanets in the habitable zone of cool stars. In the habitable zone, liquid water can still exist on the orbiting planet's surface.
The team, which included University of Michigan astronomer and NASA Sagan Fellow Ryan MacDonald, published its study in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters. "Our observations did not see signs of an atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1 b. This tells us the planet could be a bare rock, have clouds high in the atmosphere or have a very heavy molecule like carbon dioxide that makes the atmosphere too small to detect," MacDonald said. "But what we do see is that the star is absolutely the biggest effect dominating our observations, and this will do the exact same thing to other planets in the system.
The team, which included University of Michigan astronomer and NASA Sagan Fellow Ryan MacDonald, published its study in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters. "Our observations did not see signs of an atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1 b. This tells us the planet could be a bare rock, have clouds high in the atmosphere or have a very heavy molecule like carbon dioxide that makes the atmosphere too small to detect," MacDonald said. "But what we do see is that the star is absolutely the biggest effect dominating our observations, and this will do the exact same thing to other planets in the system.
Drop that track already (Score:1)
Can't wait till they drop that phat new track. It'll be out of this world.
Photobombed by Cool Star (Score:2)
Studying TRAPPIST-1 b with JWST is like trying to study a rock star while being photobombed by their flashier, attention-seeking girlfriend.
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This is slashdot, we won't relate, as encounters with flashy girlfriends is usually merely theoretical.
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Nonsense, my girl friend is super hot, likes to play video games, and we enjoy long code reviews in the park.
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No no no, I mean physical GF's, not VR.
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Well... "hot" means flashes, "video games" means candy crush, and "code reviews" means review of legal code involving restraining orders.
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But we know so little about TRAPPIST-1 because it's not allowed to speak unless absolutely necessary.
Re: myopic obsession with water (Score:5, Informative)
I don't think NASA is equating water with life. I think they're seeing water as a bare necessity for life, as a solvent and mediator of biological reactions. It's the first (or one of the first) hurdle to pass before any discussion of the potential for life can happen.
Of course you could argue that maybe out there are planets with a seas of methane, or toluene, or ethanol that are teeming with life. But that would be well outside of our understanding of biochemistry, so it would make sense that we first look for evidence of life that should exist according to our understanding of biochemical reactions.
NASA and other space agencies are very much looking for (small) organic molecules and evidence of life's building blocks:
https://www.nasa.gov/solar-sys... [nasa.gov]
https://www.nasa.gov/universe/... [nasa.gov]
https://www.nasa.gov/universe/... [nasa.gov]
Re:myopic obsession with water (Score:5, Insightful)
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They are looking at random things, but they also have a list of things scientists are curious about. That's a decent compromise: roughly half random and half curiosity-inducing.
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Take another look, you might be surprised [nih.gov] at what's [nrdc.org] in bottled water [cdc.gov]. Bottled water is not sterile.
Re: myopic obsession with water (Score:5, Informative)
Agreed! And there is the point - if you have water, even water that you think is "clean", it's teeming with life! Turns out water is a such a fantastic medium for life to grow in, it's hard for us to prevent it from doing so. And it's one of the simplest molecules to make, and its elements are being spewed from dying stars all the time. So not only is it great for growing life, it's a relatively abundant molecule in the universe as far as we can tell.
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Titan-like hydrocarbons can form roughly comparable bonds and fluids, but probably at a slower pace.
Re:myopic obsession with water (Score:5, Informative)
What's water-centric about this study? They are merely looking for the existence and composition of atmospheres, regardless of content, around a group of roughly Earth-sized planets.
They probably checked the inner planet first because it crosses in front of its star more often than the others, giving more spectrum analysis opportunities than the slower planets. The others will take longer, but could be more interesting.
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You better let NASA know they've been wasting their time.
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If only the GP was more myopic (nearsighted), they might be able to see the life.
Trappist planets have the best beer (Score:3)
Just saying.
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GOP is refusing to fund Planet Bud research over fear of alerting woke aliens to our presence. GOP are still freaked out by ET in drag. [seattlemet.com]
Get ready for proof of extra-terrestrial life (Score:5, Interesting)
The likelihood of those things is less than hitting the biggest lottery jackpot three times in a row IMHO.
I'm confident that in our lifetime, we will have compelling evidence of life on planets outside our solar system. That evidence will be the existence of chemicals in spectra that can only be plausibly explained by life. Unfortunately for we lovers of sci-fi, it will be simply things like plants and microorganisms, not Vulcans and Klingons.
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> When it comes to ET, most people think that a space ship will land in front of the White House
No, we hope that would happen, and that ET would take the orange tribble-head back home to Babbleon 5.
> or we will tune in to an alien radio broadcast.
Could happen. We have no idea how frequent radio/laser-building beings evolve. Could be common, could be rare.
Most fun exoplanet system so far. (Score:3)