On Christmas 2021, NASA launched the most advanced telescope ever – the James Webb Telescope – into space. After nearly half a year and having traveled millions of kilometers from Earth, the telescope stands on top of exploring the unfiltered universe. With its gold-plated hexagonal mirrors, the James Webb Telescope is “weeks away from full operation.”
And the first assignment on which the James Webb Telescope will work is the investigation of two extremely hot exoplanets – the lava-filled 55 Cancri e and the airless LHS 3844 b – that are classified as “super-Earths.” The super-Earth will be examined with the deep and long-sighted eyes of the James Webb Telescope that will help researchers understand the evolution of rocky planets like our Earth and the diverse range of planetary geology in the universe.
Is it possible for a rocky planet to get so hot that the surface melts and the clouds rain down lava? #nasaweb will find out: https://t.co/Uo3oeklLMu
: Artist Illustration, Credits NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI) pic.twitter.com/OrZZXMp4CR
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) 26 May 2022
Super Earth – 1
The first super-Earth that the James Webb Telescope will target is 55 Cancri e, an extremely hot planet very close to its star. This planet is so close to its Sun that a year on that planet is completed in 18 hours. The distance between Cancri e and its Sun is twenty-fifth the distance between our Sun and Mercury.
According to agency estimates, the surface of 55 Cancri e is covered with lava during the day because the temperature is above the melting point of the rock-forming minerals. In the evening, when the surface has cooled relatively, the lava will condense to form droplets of lava, which will then rain back onto the surface.
55 Cancri e is not only hot but also mysterious. Normally, a planet closer to the Sun is locked by tides that would make the part directly in front of the Sun the hottest. But, the features of the Cancri E are different. The parts directly facing the Sun are not the hottest on the planet, but are placed at offset locations. Researchers believe that this mysterious behavior may be the result of a dynamic environment. “55 Cancri e may have a dense atmosphere dominated by either oxygen or nitrogen,” Renu Hu, team lead for Webb’s test mission to 55 Cancri e, said in a statement.
Super Earth – 2
The next target is LHS 3844 b, which, like 55 Cancri e, is a planet very close to its Sun. But, since LHS 3844 b’s Sun is smaller and cooler in size, the surface temperature on the planet is not hot enough to turn the ground into lava. The planet lacks an “obscure atmosphere” that makes it difficult for researchers to observe its composition.
NASA believes the findings will provide interesting observations, which will then make way for more than 5,000 exoplanets in addition to the two targeted super-Earths. “They will give us fantastic new perspectives on Earth-like planets in general, helping us learn more about what the early Earth might have been like when it was as hot as these planets,” said Laura Kreidberg, from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
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