ALBAWABA - NASA announced that James Webb Space Telescope observed its first planet outside the Solar System.
The exoplanet, which was classified as LHS 475 b, is almost exactly the same size as Earth, clocking in at 99 percent of its diameter, researchers said.
A whole new world!
41 light-years away is the small, rocky planet LHS 475 b. At 99% of Earth’s diameter, it’s almost exactly the same size as our home world. This marks the first time researchers have used Webb to confirm an exoplanet. https://t.co/hX8UGXplq2 #AAS241 pic.twitter.com/SDhuZRfcko— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) January 11, 2023
But there is no evidence pointing to whether it has an atmosphere similar to that of the Earth. The exoplanet is about 41 light-years away, in the constellation Octans.
"The telescope is so sensitive that it can easily detect a range of molecules, but we can’t yet make any definitive conclusions about the planet’s atmosphere," Erin May, also of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, said.
The team studying the extrasolar planet is led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
