Scientists notice carbon dioxide on planets outside the solar system for the first time

Carbon dioxide has It was discovered on a planet outside our solar system for the first time. The gas was observed directly through the James Web telescope in four External planetsAll of them belong to the HR 8799 system, which is located 130 light -years away from Earth. Carbon dioxide discovery₂ Provides evidence about how remote planets are formed, while providing observations strong evidence that these four giant planets were formed in the same way that they were formed Jupiter and SaturnThrough the slow composition of solid nuclei. The results were Published In the latest number of astronomical magazine.

“By discovering these strong configurations of carbon dioxide, we have shown that there is a large part of the heavier elements, such as carbon, oxygen and iron, in the atmosphere of these planets.” Nassa. “Given what we know about the star around it, this may indicate that it was formed through the basic accumulation, which, for the planets that we can see directly, is an exciting conclusion.”

HR 8799 is a system born 30 million years ago, as well as young people compared to our solar system, which was present for 4.6 billion years. It is still hot from its violent formation, emitting from the human resources planet 8,799 large amounts of infrared light. This provides scientists for valuable data on how to compare their training with the star or Brown dwarfThe term given to the large gas planets that fail to develop into stars.

Palmer said: “Our hope for this type of research is to understand our solar system, life, and ourselves compared to other external planetary systems, so that we can set a context for our existence.” “We want to take pictures of other solar energy systems and see how it resembles or differs from it. From there, we can try to understand how strange our solar system is, or how normal is.”

Carbon dioxide was an essential component of the development of life on Earth, making it a major goal in searching for life elsewhere in outer space.

Plus, because Share₂ It condenses into small snowy molecules in the deep cold of space, its presence can be shed on the composition of the planets. Jupiter and Saturn are believed to be formed through a process in which a group of small ice molecules gather to form a solid nucleus, then absorb the gas to grow into the gas giants that we know today.

“We have other lines of evidence that indicates the formation of these four planets in human resources 8799 through this approach from Al Qaeda to the top,” said Laurent Buyu, astronomer at the Space Telescope Institute and a co -author of the newspaper, in a statement to NASA. “How common is this in the long planets that we can photograph directly?

Open the potential of the James Web telescope for space

The James Web telescope must also be given its flowers, because it has shown that it is able to do more than the conclusion of the atmospheric composition of the external planets from the stars light measurements; In fact, it has shown its ability to Direct analysis The chemical composition of the atmosphere is far.

JWST can usually discover external planets while crossing in front of the host star, due to the great distance that separates us. But on this occasion, direct observation is possible by Coronagraphs in JWST – Publications that prevent the light of stars to detect hidden worlds otherwise.

Palmer said: “It is like putting your thumb in front of the sun when you look at the sky.” This preparation, similar to the solar eclipse, allowed the team to search for infrared light with wavelengths coming from the planet that reveals specific gases and other weather details.

“These giant planets have very important effects,” Palmer said. “If these huge planets behave like bowling balls roaming in our solar system, they can disrupt, protect, or, to some extent, on both planets like us. Therefore, better understanding their composition is very important to understand the formation of satisfaction -like planets, survival, real estate, and capacity of the stove in the future.”

This story was originally appeared on EN Español wireless It was translated from Spanish.