NASA Discovers Exoplanet With Never Seen Before Atmosphere!

NASA’s James Webb Telescope has made another amazing discovery! This time, it found an exoplanet with a never seen atmosphere.

Highly sensitive equipment on the telescope was pointed towards WASP-39 b, a planet of the same mass as Saturn that orbits a star around 700 light-years away.

Previously, Webb and other space observatories like Hubble and Spitzer showed individual elements of this sweltering planet’s atmosphere. However, the latest findings give a whole menu of atoms, molecules, and even hints of active chemistry and clouds.

When the NASA James Webb Space Telescope began its regular science operations, this Saturn-sized exoplanet was one of the first targets it saw.

The findings have sparked a lot of interest in the field of exoplanet research. Webb’s ultra-sensitive equipment discovered water, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, sodium, and potassium in the atmosphere of WASP-39 b.

WASP-39 b is habitable due to its high temperature and mainly hydrogen atmosphere. The planet is eight times closer to its star than Mercury is to our sun. This makes it an ideal subject for studying the effects of host star radiation on exoplanets.

Understanding the star-planet link better should provide details on the means that give rise to the number of planets seen across the Milky Way.

The Webb telescope also discovered sodium (Na), potassium (K), and water vapor (H2O) in the atmosphere. This corroborates with findings from earlier space and ground-based observatory investigations

Source: NASA

Adib Mohd

Recent Posts

The First 72 Hours After a Stroke, Crucial for Recovery and Saving Lives

Did you know that you could lose approximately 1.9 million neurons after a stroke hit?… Read More

5 hours ago

Huawei ICT Academy Will Level Up Your Digital Mastery

Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei Malaysia) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor are collaborating… Read More

5 hours ago

Malaysia Faces Rising Dementia Care Burden as Families Struggle Alone

Malaysia Faces Rising Dementia Care Burden as Families Struggle Alone Malaysia’s rapidly aging population is… Read More

11 hours ago

From Oval Office to Silver Screen: Trump Cameo Legacy You Can Never Recreate

From Oval Office to Silver Screen: Trump Cameo Legacy You Can Never Recreate Imagine you… Read More

12 hours ago

Step In, Stand Out, Converse Introduces Malaysia’s All Star Class of 2026

Are you ready to meet your new classmates? Converse Malaysia will bring you into a… Read More

1 day ago

IKEA Malaysia Crowns Three Ultimate Cook-Off Champions

The heat was on and creativity was unleashed. On 4 and 5 October 2025, over… Read More

1 day ago

This website uses cookies.