What if the Earth was much closer to the Sun, so close that a year on the planet would last only 18 hours? A super-Earth covered in oceans of lava and another exoplanet that has no atmosphere have been chosen as the first targets for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. One of the planets, known as 55 Cancri e, has surface temperatures reaching 2,400°C , well above the melting point of rock-forming minerals. Hence the researchers believe that the day side is covered in lava; a lava that could even fall as rain. Located 40 light -years away from Earth , this super-Earth, with a diameter nearly twice that of our planet, will be the first target.
The second, a planet without an atmosphere: LHS 3844 b. This planet orbits a star that is smaller and cooler than 55 Cancri e’s host star. It’s not hot enough for its surface to melt, and it’s unlikely to have a substantial atmosphere, which means scientists can analyze the solid rock on its surface.
Both “will give us fantastic new insights into Earth-like planets in general, helping us learn what early Earth might have looked like when it was hot like these planets are today,” said Laura Kreidberg of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, in a press release.
The observations of 55 Cancri ey and LHS 3844 will be made available to the global astronomical community.
A new way of looking at the stars
The James Webb Telescope has been described as a ‘time machine’ that could help unlock the secrets of our universe. It will be used to observe the first galaxies that were born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago.
Composed of 18 segments of hexagonal mirrors, assembled into a large mirror 6.5 meters wide, it will be used by teams of astronomers to study a wide variety of celestial phenomena, from exoplanets to black holes.
Webb is able to peer further into the history of the universe than any previous space telescope, in part due to its position 1.5 million kilometers away, at the Lagrange point L2.
We are just weeks away from James Webb becoming fully operational, NASA reports.
Reference: NASA JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE
