Canada's Part Of The Webb Telescope Confirmed Water In An Exoplanet's Atmosphere
Water is a "life-supporting" molecule! 🔭🌌
Carina Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Right: Thousands of galaxies in a galaxy cluster photographed by the Webb Telescope.
With the first images from the Webb Telescope released, it has also been revealed that Canada's part of the telescope has confirmed water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet!
The James Webb Space Telescope is a space science observatory that NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) collaborated on to explore the solar system and space beyond it.
On July 12, the CSA shared that Canada's Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) on the telescope "unambiguously confirmed the presence of water molecules in the atmosphere of [exoplanet] WASP-96 b."
The exoplanet orbits around a Sun-like star that's located about 1,150 light-years away from Earth.
This observation made by NIRISS is "the most detailed near-infrared transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere captured to date."
The CSA said that "the Canadian-built instrument captured and broke apart the starlight flowing through the atmosphere" of the exoplanet.
By using this process, researchers can get key information including "the potential presence of life-supporting molecules like oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water."
The observation of WASP-96 b, which is a hot gas exoplanet, also found evidence of haze and clouds.
Previously, those were not thought to have existed in its atmosphere.
The first images from the Webb Telescope were shared by NASA on July 11 and July 12 and they included images of the Southern Ring Nebula, the "Cosmic Cliffs" in Carina Nebula and interacting galaxies in Stephan's Quintet.
Justin Trudeau shared a photo from the telescope on Twitter and said that "it was worth every second" of work by Canadian scientists and engineers.
The CSA said Canada's Fine Guidance Sensor was "critical" in getting those images and data because it can stay locked on stars for long periods of time even when the telescope is moving.
Canada is not only collaborating with NASA on the Webb Telescope but also on another project, an upcoming mission to the moon!
The CSA and NASA signed a treaty that confirmed Canada's participation in the Artemis II mission that will have a Canadian astronaut orbit the moon.
When that happens, Canada will become just the second country to have an astronaut fly around the moon.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.