The James Webb Space Telescope has recently detected traces of water vapor in the atmosphere of a super-hot giant gas exoplanet, relatively close to Earth.
WASP-18 b is located very close to its parent star, causing the temperature of its atmosphere to reach up to 2,700 degrees Celsius (Image: NASA).
This exoplanet, known as WASP-18 b, is located approximately 400 light-years away from Earth and is about ten times the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
Due to its close proximity to its parent star, the atmospheric temperature of WASP-18 b is extremely high, causing most water molecules to be destroyed. Nevertheless, thanks to its remarkable capabilities, the James Webb Space Telescope was able to observe the remaining tiny water molecules.
“The spectrum of the planet’s atmosphere reveals the presence of small water molecules, despite the harsh temperature of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 degrees Celsius),” NASA stated in a press release.
According to NASA experts, the discovery of water in the exoplanet’s atmosphere is a positive sign, demonstrating the sensitivity and effective operation of the James Webb telescope.
WASP-18 b is not entirely unfamiliar, as it has been studied by other telescopes since 2008, including the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
However, it was only the James Webb Space Telescope that detected traces of water remaining in the planet’s atmosphere.
Uninhabitable Conditions
Normally, the presence of water is associated with the possibility of sustaining life. However, WASP-18 b possesses extreme conditions that make this factor highly unlikely according to scientists. Besides its scorching temperature, WASP-18 b is excessively large and is in close proximity to its parent star, WASP-18.
Traces of water were discovered in the scorching atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-18 b by the James Webb Space Telescope (Image: NASA/JPL).
Moreover, the exoplanet experiences a phenomenon called “tidal locking,” where one side of the planet always faces its host star, similar to how the near side of the Moon always faces Earth. Due to tidal locking, there can be a significant difference in surface temperatures of up to nearly 2,000 degrees Celsius.
With the data collected from the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers at the University of Arizona were able to create the first thermal map of the WASP-18 planet. Additionally, they hypothesized that the planet possesses a very strong magnetic field.