Search for distant atmosphere off to a rocky start

Kreidberg, Laura

doi:10.1038/d41586-023-01738-y

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31 May 2023

Search for distant atmosphere off to a rocky start

Astronomers have used observations of infrared light to measure the heat emanating from an Earth-sized exoplanet known as TRAPPIST-1b. Their findings reveal that the planet is a bare rock, devoid of any atmosphere.

Laura Kreidberg⁰

Laura Kreidberg
1. Laura Kreidberg is at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
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The exploration of terrestrial, or rocky, planets beyond the Solar System has long been the domain of science fiction. But real planets have been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun, and, with the extraordinary observing ability of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers are finally able to bring these distant worlds into view. In a paper in Nature, Greene et al.¹ used the telescope to detect heat coming from a terrestrial exoplanet called TRAPPIST-1b. The authors’ observations indicate a barren wasteland of a planet, with a hot surface that bears no trace of an atmosphere. The result is a setback for scientists hoping to find planets reminiscent of Earth in the TRAPPIST-1 system, but it is an exciting demonstration of the JWST’s capabilities.

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Nature 618, 32-33 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01738-y

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