Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed a surprisingly low concentration of methane in the atmosphere of WASP-107 b, a bloated exoplanet orbiting a star 200 light-years away. This discovery suggests that the planet’s extreme puffiness may be due to factors other than a massive reservoir of gas or a small, rocky core. Instead, intense heat generated by the planet’s highly elliptical orbit and tidal forces from its host star may be causing its atmosphere to expand.
Astronomers have identified a rare exoplanet, Gliese 12 b, located just 40 light-years away and classified as an “exo-Venus”. It is between the size of Earth and Venus and orbits its red dwarf star every 12.8 Earth days. The planet’s temperate nature, similar to Earth’s, makes it an ideal target for studying planetary atmosphere development. Researchers aim to determine if Gliese 12 b has an atmosphere and if it resembles Earth’s or Venus’s dense atmosphere, which will shed light on the divergent evolution of these two planets.
