Like nothing seen before, the chemical fingerprint captured by the James Webb Telescope has become a sensation for NASA scientists. Webb scored “great goal“capture chemical profiles and Molecular analysis of the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39b.

“In the first data we noticed a very strange signal in the atmosphere of this planet whose origin we cannot understand. Now, with this analysis, we can conclude that the traces left by sulfur dioxide produced by high radiation are what the planet receives from its star in the outer layers of the atmosphere. over the atmosphere”, said Jorge LilloBox, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Astrobiology (CAB) and one of the study’s authors.

Meanwhile, Natalie Batalha, a co-author of the study, qualified this as a “true achievement”. ensure that James Webb’s team is absolutely amazing.

“We observe exoplanets with different instruments that, together, provide a wide infrared spectrum and a large number of chemical signatures that were not accessible until [esta misión]”, said Batalha, an astronomer at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Several revelations from this study stood out to scientists, the first being that the exoplanet’s atmosphere contained sulfur dioxide (SO2), a molecule produced by a chemical reaction by the high-energy light from the host star. Something similar to the protective ozone layer on Earth and the influence of the Sun.

The proximity of the planet WASP-39 to its parent star —eight times closer than Mercury is to our Sun— it also makes it a laboratory to study the effects of radiation from host stars on exoplanets, NASA details, on its official website.

Other items found in “footprints” by Webb is sodium (Na), potassium (K) and water vapor (H2O), additional signs of water have never been detected in space.

“We’ve already predicted what [el telescopio] will show us, but it is more accurate, more diverse, and more beautiful than I thought.” says Hannah Wakeford, an astrophysicist at the University of Bristol in England.