Earth-Sized Planet May Have An Atmosphere

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An Earth-sized planet in a star system very similar to our solar system may have an atmosphere after all, suggests new research using the James Webb Space Telescope.

The Trappist-1 system, first discovered in 1999, was in 2017 revealed by NASA to have seven potentially Earth-like rocky planets orbiting its star — including three in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold "habitable zone." At just 39 light-years distant, Trappist-1 is also close enough for astronomers to study using space telescopes.

Initial studies of the Trappist-1 planets using JWST have yet to yield convincing data on whether they are Earth-like. A paper published today in Nature Astronomy reveals that Trappist-1 b — the planet closest to its star — may not be the dark rocky planet without an atmosphere that it was initially thought to be.

In fact, the opposite may be true. New observations using JWST, this time in mid-infrared wavelengths of light, reveal two scenarios for Trappist-1 b:

An airless planet with a surface that shows no signs of weathering, which could indicate geological activity such as volcanism and plate tectonics.

A planet with a hazy carbon dioxide atmosphere is also viable — perhaps similar to Saturn's giant moon Titan.

The uncertainty of the new results is indicative of how difficult it is for scientists to characterize the nature of exoplanets — planets that orbit a star other than our sun — from multiple light-years distant.