UNIVERSITY ABU DHABI USES JWT TELESCOPE TO DETECT WATER ON EXOPLANET

Dr. Jasmina Blecic

New York University Abu Dhabi Research Scientist, Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS)

Water has always been considered the source of life, so when researchers find glimpses of it on other planets, it is considered an important discovery that might lead to other even more exciting ones, such as life on other planets.

Jasmina Blecic, a researcher from the Center for Astrophysics and Space Science at the Department of Physics at New York University Abu Dhabi, who holds a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences, together with a team of scientists, has detected tiny features of water on an exoplanet called WASP-18b. The significance of this report, published in the journal Nature under the title «A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b,» lies in the remarkable precision demonstrated by the James Webb Space Telescope and in the conclusions that could not be drawn using previous space telescopes. Its results offer hope that in the future we will be able to study planets similar to our Earth, which could potentially harbor life.

The research

According to Blecic, these H2O molecules would not have been detected without the James Webb Telescope.

“Prior to the James Webb telescope, we could not see any features in the spectra of this planet, but with James Webb we are able to distinguish tiny water features, despite the fact that this planet is scorching hot and most of the water molecules are destroyed,” Blecic states.

“This is a major advancement in the field of exoplanets, as it opens frontiers for studying Earth-size planets and tiny spectral features present in their atmospheres, which might infer life outside of our solar system,” she adds.

In addition to water features, the team has also found evidence that the Exoplanet WASP-18b has a large magnetic field. This, according to Blecic, was a very exciting find on its own.

“This is also a major discovery, because before James Webb we could only infer about magnetic fields on exoplanets from other phenomena. However, this time, it is the first instance where we are seeing direct evidence of charged particles moving north and south, following the magnetic field lines similar to Earth,” she highlights.

Conclusions about the existence of the magnetic field on WASP-18b stem from the unexpected distribution of heat on this planet, as explained by Blecic. This planet is tidally locked, similar to our Moon, which means it always presents the same side to its sun. Consequently, one side is superhot while the other, which never faces the sun, is super cold. On Earth, winds blow from hot to cold regions, and scientists anticipated observing a similar phenomenon on WASP-18b.

“The fact that we observed a temperature difference of around 1000 degrees between the terminator region, the boundary between the day and night sides of the planet, and the central dayside region, indicated to us that there are no winds blowing from east to west. We deduced that there must be another mechanism at play on this planet, preventing gasses from moving from the day to the night side. One possibility could be the presence of a magnetic field,” Blecic explains.

Given that the day-side temperature is around 2700 degrees Celsius, most of the water molecules are dissociated into ions (positive and negative charges), which are prone to being led by the planet›s magnetic field. This phenomenon causes the material to move towards the north and south poles rather than east to west.

James Webb Telescope

Observing molecules, minerals, and other matter on exoplanets is not easy. However, this task has been made much easier with the James Webb Telescope, which has demonstrated remarkable precision, stability, and capabilities that highly surpass those of previous space telescopes such as Hubble and Spitzer.

Blecic explains that the James Webb telescope was initially planned to be launched in 2018 but was delayed until December 2021. Years prior, scientists, including Blecic, gathered to brainstorm which projects would be proposed for the initial years of observation with the James Webb telescope. Three planets were chosen, one of which was WASP18-b.

“WASP-18b held particular interest for us primarily because it stands out as one of the most massive exoplanets observed thus far, exceeding the mass of our Jupiter by a factor of ten. Despite its size comparable to Jupiter, its tremendous mass renders it one of the densest planets ever observed, prompting our exploration into the characteristics of this unique gas giant. Furthermore, WASP-18b orbits its star more than 20 times closer than Mercury does to our Sun, resulting in an extraordinarily hot planetary surface with potentially distinctive atmospheric conditions. However, limitations of previous telescopes hindered our ability to draw definitive conclusions about its atmosphere, compelling us to turn to the James Webb Space Telescope for answers.” Blecic adds.

The UAE asteroid mission and lessons learned

The studies conducted by Blecic on exoplanets using JWST can also play a part in the UAE asteroid mission. Blecic explains that the composition of asteroids reveals a lot about what our solar system is made of. She states, “The primitive materials found on asteroids are the building blocks of planets and give us direct insight into the formation and evolution of planetary systems in general.”

In addition, the chemical makeup of a planetary atmosphere is directly correlated with the composition of the planet›s interior. Atmospheres carry the footprints of those materials, she confirms.

Therefore, Blecic plans to utilize software she built while researching planetary atmospheres to study the composition of asteroids.

«There is a direct benefit from studying asteroids, as it offers us insights into how we came to exist in our solar system. It also helps us understand how exoplanets are formed and how life can be created in systems far from our own solar system,» Blecic concludes.

Title of Published Paper:

New York University Abu Dhabi uses JWT telescope to detect Water on Exoplanet

Interview with Dr. Jasmina Blecic, Researcher NYU Abu Dhabi

Title of Published Paper:: A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b

Published in: Nature

The impact Factor: 64.8

It is published by Nature Portfolio

The Journal is indexed 1. Web of Science UGC, Scopus, PubMed

The SJR ( SCImago Journal Rank) 20.9

It is published by

The Journal is indexed

The SJR (SCImago Journal Rank):

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