NASA’s telescope detects signs of water on a faraway planet 

Looks like NASA is on a high! After the successful launch of the CAPSTONE mission and the discovery of the Zombie Star by its Hubble Space Telescope, the US space agency is now back with another milestone. This time, it’s the work of the James Webb Space Telescope that has recently detected signs of water on an unknown distant planet. This brand-new discovery has, in turn, revealed the telescope’s exceptional ability to observe and analyse faraway atmospheres. Here’s what we know so far. 

James Webb Space Telescope’s latest discovery 
According to media reports, NASA has recently announced that its multibillion-dollar space telescope called the James Web Space Telescope has “captured the signature of water” on an exoplanet (a planet which exists outside of our solar system) called WASP 96-b. NASA’s tweet following this discovery also mentions how evidence of clouds and haze has also been traced on the planet’s atmosphere, that has no direct relation to our solar system. Interestingly, the high-resolution images captured by the James Web Space Telescope also reveal the presence of stellar life cycles as well as other interactive galaxies.  

All about exoplanet WASP 96-b 
WASP 96-b has been identified by the James Webb Space Telescope as a giant hot gassy planet that is located more than a thousand light years away. It is among the 5000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy situated near the southern-sky constellation, Phoenix. It even orbits a Sun-like star which is at a distance of 1150 light years from the Earth. In fact, the exoplanet is so closely located to the star that it only takes three and a half Earth days to complete one revolution. Wait, there’s more. Recently, James Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectograph (NIRISS) also observed the of WASP 96-b for 6.4 hours, as the exoplanet travelled around its star.   

WASP 96-b also has unique dimensions. While its mass is less than half of Jupiter’s, its diameter is 1.2 times greater. It has a temperature of approximately 538 degrees Celsius on an average. Can you imagine how immensely hot that is?  

In case you were wondering why the findings on WASP 96-b is important, now you have the answer. This exoplanet is one-of-a-kind, considering it has a humongous size, short orbital duration, hot and puffy atmosphere and also, negligible amount of contaminating light from any close celestial object.  

James Webb Space Telescope locate life in other planets? 
This is the first time ever that the James Webb Space Telescope has shared full-coloured images. Okay, so what does this mean? Well, this telescope is now in its full power and is ready to begin exploring the entire universe. Some sections of the opinion the unveiling of the first set of coloured images marks “the dawn of a new era in astronomy.” This latest discovery has been promising in the sense that James Webb could now begin to hunt for alien life and even locate potential habitable planets for people. Lastly, its success makes it not only the largest space telescope in the world, but also the most-powerful one with a capacity to deliver more detailed data in the upcoming days.