Using the James Webb telescope, astronomers measured the temperature of the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b. In this respect informs Goddard Space Center.
The James Webb Orbital Observatory operates in the mid and near infrared range. This makes it possible to capture the thermal radiation of moderately hot bodies (not heated to stellar temperatures) and study them.
TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cold red dwarf system located 40 light-years from Earth. It has seven rocky planets, all in very low orbits (within the orbit of Mercury), but due to the dim star, they get as much energy as the planets of the terrestrial group. The innermost planet, TRAPPIST-1b, has an orbital distance of about one-hundredth of the distance between Earth and the Sun and receives about four times as much energy as Earth. The authors used secondary eclipse photometry to determine the characteristics of the planet’s own radiation. In other words, they measured how much the system’s brightness dimmed as the planet disappeared behind it.
As a result, it turned out that on the day side its temperature is about 225 degrees and, most likely, there is no atmosphere.
“These observations take full advantage of Webb’s mid-infrared capabilities,” said astrophysicist Thomas Green. “No previous telescope has been so sensitive to measure such dim mid-range infrared radiation.”
Earlier astronomers suggested Description of the “maneuvers” of the interstellar asteroid Oumuamua.