JWST Spots Newly Forming And Cloudy Exoplanets
The James Webb Space Telescope has eye spied two small exoplanets orbiting a young Sun-like star, a mere 310 light years away, say international researchers.
The star, named YSES-1 has previously been seen to have two celestial bodies orbiting it, YSES-1b and YSES-1c. But now, with the help of the JWST, the researchers say one of the two exoplanets has an atmosphere filled with dusty clouds, and the other is surrounded by a disk, which is indicative of a newly forming planet.
The first direct observations of silicate clouds in the atmosphere of YSES-1c confirm previous theories about the composition of its atmosphere. The authors constrain the cloud composition, particle size and location in the atmosphere, reporting that the silicate clouds are likely to also contain iron, which may rain back down onto the planet.
They estimate that the cloud particles are 0.1μm or smaller. The authors also report the first observation of a silicate disk around YSES-1 b, a rare observation for substellar companion exoplanets. This observation indicates that YSES-1 b may be a relatively newly formed planet.