The TRAPPIST-1 system, an extraordinary collection of seven rocky exoplanets 41 light years distant from Earth, will be the focus of the James Webb Space Telescope's first working cycle.
TRAPPIST-1
is a great laboratory for investigating habitability, according to
astrobiologists such as Dr. Giada Arney of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
It is made up of seven rocky planets that are strewn around the system's
habitable zone, or the region around a star where temperatures are just right
for liquid water to exist on the surface of nearby planets. Webb will
characterise these planets' atmospheres and aid scientists in their research
into planetary formation and habitability.
TRAPPIST-1,
on the other hand, is a fascinating system for James Webb to study. TRAPPIST-1
will be observed early in its functioning cycle.
And the
reason why astronomers are so thrilled about TRAPPIST-1 is that it's a system
of seven rocky planets orbiting a low-mass star, not just one or two.
This is
fascinating because these planets serve as a natural laboratory for
investigating processes that may affect planetary habitability. Because some of
the planets in that system are too close to the star to be habitable, this is
the case. They're most likely too hot.
Some of
the planets in that system are just far enough away from their star to be
habitable. Then there's the fact that at least one of the planets in the system
is probably too cold to support life. If I were to make a guess, I would say
it's chilly and frozen over.
We might
learn more about how planetary habitability varies as you move out or inward
from your parent star by studying all the planets in the system and comparing
and contrasting their characteristics, as well as the different processes that
can enable or possibly destroy habitability at different distances from your
star, by studying all the planets in the system and comparing and contrasting
their characteristics.
That's
tremendously fantastic.
All of
these planets are in the same orbit around the same star.
So we know
they were all created at the same moment; they're all made of the same
material; and they all go through the same procedures from the star throughout
their lives.
As a
result, it's a fantastic framework to utilise for this type of comparison.
Of course,
we'd like to look for biosignatures in the atmospheres of the TRAPPIST-1
planets that could be habitable. And if we discover anything, it will be quite
intriguing because low mass stars like TRAPPIST-1 are very different from our
huge Sun-like stars.
These
low-mass stars are notorious for being extremely active. They generate a large
number of high-energy star flares. They generate a great deal of high-energy
radiation.
So, whatever evolutionary history these planets have had over time, it’s probably pretty different from the planets of our solar system just because its star behaves so differently.
And so,
it’ll also be really, really interesting to compare the planets in the system
to the rocky planets in our solar system and see, you know, in what ways are
these planets different, but also in what ways are they the same?
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