The world’s most powerful space telescope, James Webb, has gazed upon the surface of TRAPPIST-1, a star with 7 Earth-like planets, and revealed some chilling details. According to Space, James Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) observed the movement of TRAPPIST-1b, one of the planets orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.
The red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 is surrounded by 7 planets, each of which possesses some Earth-like features – Graphic from NASA.
TRAPPIST-1b initially sparked hope during early observations by NASA’s “planet hunter” TESS because it is slightly heavier than Earth and a rocky planet. Three months later, another planet, TRAPPIST-1c, made an appearance under the lens of James Webb, showcasing some similar features.
The news isn’t great: They have unveiled a “bare” body with no atmosphere. These two worlds seem more like inhospitable Venus rather than Earth.
This result came from a research team led by astronomer Olivia Lim from the University of Montreal (Canada) after examining spectral data. While it dashed hopes of a thick hydrogen atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1b, it brought about an intriguing twist.
According to co-author Ryan MacDonald from the University of Michigan (USA), observing TRAPPIST-1b was challenging due to a “malevolent force” causing interference and data noise, as if preventing scientists from investigating whether TRAPPIST-1b might host life.
The disruptor is identified as the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, the planetary system’s parent star. This doesn’t mean there’s an extraterrestrial civilization on this star and it’s blocking humans from exploring their world. It’s just the nature of red dwarf stars.
Red dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 are known for their low temperatures, much cooler than the Sun, and are the most common type of star in the Milky Way galaxy, home to Earth.
This discovery reveals how powerful the red dwarf star is, despite being the “coldest” type of star: Its surface is actively subjected to intense magnetic activity, causing chaos.
This magnetic activity, combined with harsh radiation, might be the reason this planet appears “barren.”
However, the possibility of TRAPPIST-1b still having an extremely thin atmosphere with water vapor, carbon dioxide, or methane is not ruled out. In other words, scientists still hold some hope for the planet’s potential habitability.
The star’s interference also highlights the need for scientists to find ways to deal with it, offering a solution to filter out interference when observing the planets TRAPPIST-1d, TRAPPIST-1e, and TRAPPIST-1f, which are considered the most likely to host life.