:Imagine a planet in our mysterious space where "Happy New Year" is said every 18 hours. The James Webb Telescope will soon discover if there are planets like these that orbit extremely close to our solar system's largest star, the Sun.
The James Webb Telescope's first mission is to monitor 55 Cancri e, a super-hot, super-Earth that orbits the Sun in only 18 hours, and the airless planet LHS 3844 b. Scientists intend to learn the surface and atmosphere of these planets using the world's most powerful telescope.
The Enigmatic Super-Earth 55 Cancri E
This planet orbits its stars at a range of less than 2.4 million kilometres, or one-quarter of the distance between Mercury and the Sun. A year on this planet will last only 18 hours, and the planet's dayside is assumed to be encased in lava oceans.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope findings of 55 Cancri e imply that the hottest area is offset from the aspect that confronts the star most directly, while a total quantity of heat identified from the dayside varies.
Following this exploration, experts speculated that this planet may not be tidally locked, and that it, like Mercury, rotates three times every two orbits.
A Quick Planet LHS3884B
“It turns out that different types of rock have different spectra,” explained @lkreidberg at the @mpi_astro. “You can see with your eyes that granite is lighter in color than basalt. There are similar differences in the infrared light that rocks give off.” (6/7) pic.twitter.com/3SzsUA9knR— Space Telescope Science Institute (@SpaceTelescope) May 26, 2022
The planet LHS 3884B, which achieves one year in just 11 hours but is not hot enough for the exterior to be molten given the relatively is small and chiller star, is the Webb telescope's second target.
"They will provide us with brilliant fresh perspectives on Earth-like planets in general, allowing us all to understand what the earth's Surface was like when it was toasty like these planetary systems are today" Laura Kreidberg stated.
Cover Image: NASA