ESA Webb Telescope Profile picture
Aug 2 11 tweets 3 min read
What you see here is a transmission spectrum made from a single observation using Webb’s NIRISS instrument. Let's take a closer look at it 👇
A transmission spectrum is made by comparing starlight filtered through a planet’s atmosphere as it moves across the star, to the unfiltered starlight detected when the planet is beside the star 👇
🔴 Each of the 141 data points (white circles) on this graph represents the amount of a specific wavelength of light that is blocked by the planet and absorbed by its atmosphere 👇
Researchers are able to detect & measure the abundances of key gases in a planet’s atmosphere based on the absorption pattern—the locations and heights of peaks on the graph: each gas has a characteristic set of wavelengths that it absorbs 👇
The temperature of the atmosphere can be calculated based in part on the height of the peaks: a hotter planet has taller peaks. Other characteristics, like the presence of haze and clouds, can be inferred based on the overall shape of different portions of the spectrum 👇
🔴 The gray lines extending above and below each data point are error bars that show the uncertainty of each measurement, or the reasonable range of actual possible values. For a single observation, the error on these measurements is remarkably small 👇
🔴 The blue line is a best-fit model that takes into account the data, the known properties of WASP-96 b and its star (e.g., size, mass, temperature), and assumed characteristics of the atmosphere 👇
🔴 The labelled peaks in the spectrum indicate the presence of water vapour. The height of the water peaks, which is less than expected based on previous observations, is evidence for the presence of clouds that suppress the water vapor features 👇
The gradual downward slope of the left side of the spectrum (shorter wavelengths) is indicative of possible haze. The height of the peaks along with other characteristics of the spectrum is used to calculate an atmospheric temperature of about 725°C 👇
This is the most detailed infrared exoplanet transmission spectrum ever collected, the first transmission spectrum that includes wavelengths longer than 1.6 microns at such high resolution and accuracy, and ... 👇
...the first to cover the entire wavelength range from 0.6 microns (visible red light) to 2.8 microns (near-infrared) in a single shot. Not bad for #Webb's first observations. Read more here: esawebb.org/images/weic220… #WebbSeesFarther

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More from @ESA_Webb

Aug 2
This detailed new image taken by #Webb peers into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy 🛞 The image unveils secrets about star formation ✨ & the galaxy’s central black hole, providing new insights into a galaxy in the midst of a slow transformation 👇 Image
The Cartwheel Galaxy, located about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, looks much like the wheel of a wagon. Its appearance results from a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a second smaller galaxy 👇
Telescopes like @HUBBLE_space have previously examined the Cartwheel, but our view of the galaxy has been obscured by gas and dust 😶‍🌫️ Webb, with its infrared imaging capabilities, has now uncovered new insights into the galaxy’s nature 👇 Image
Read 6 tweets
Jul 12
📢 #Webb reveals cosmic cliffs & glittering landscape of star birth, showing us emerging stellar nurseries & individual stars that were previously obscured. This is the edge of nearby star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Read more here: esawebb.org/news/weic2205/ or👇 Image
Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly 3D picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 58 light-years high 👇 Image
The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the centre of the bubble, above the area shown in the image 👇
Read 7 tweets
Jul 12
📢 #Webb reveals never-before-seen details of galaxy group “Stephan’s Quintet”, giving astronomers a ringside seat to galactic mergers and interactions. Read more here: esawebb.org/news/weic2208/ or below 👇
Stephan’s Quintet is a visual grouping of 5 galaxies with only 4 of the galaxies truly close together & caught up in a cosmic dance — a fantastic “laboratory” for scientists to see in detail how interacting galaxies trigger star formation & how gas is being disturbed 👇
Tight groups like this may have been more common in the early universe when their infalling material may have fuelled very energetic black holes. Even today, the topmost galaxy harbours an active galactic nucleus, a supermassive black hole 24 million times the mass of the Sun 👇
Read 7 tweets
Jul 12
📢#Webb reveals details of the Southern Ring planetary nebula that were previously hidden, helping us better understand how stars evolve and transform their environments. Read more here: esawebb.org/news/weic2207/ or below 👇#WebbSeesFarther
Some stars save the best for last 💥 Planetary nebulae are the shells of gas and dust ejected from dying stars — making for a spectacular view. Since they exist for tens of thousands of years, observing such a nebula is like watching a movie in exceptionally slow motion 👇
Two stars, which are locked together in a tight orbit, shape the local landscape of this planetary nebula. Webb's infrared images feature new details in this complex system 👇
Read 7 tweets
Jul 12
📢 #Webb reveals steamy atmosphere ♨️ of exoplanet WASP-96 b, capturing the distinct signature of water 💧 along with evidence for clouds & haze — the most detailed measurements of this kind to date. Read more here: esawebb.org/news/weic2206/ or below 👇 #WebbSeesFarther
WASP-96 b is a hot, puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like star. On 21 June, Webb’s #NIRISS measured light from the WASP-96 system for 6.4 hours as the planet moved across the star 👇
The result: a light curve— showing the overall starlight dimming during transit, when the planet blocks some starlight, and a transmission spectrum— made by comparing starlight filtered through a planet’s atmosphere to unfiltered starlight when the planet is beside the star 👇
Read 5 tweets
Jul 12
📢 #Webb delivers deepest image of the Universe yet, looking far back in time when the Universe was less than a billion years old. The image is about the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length, yet it reveals thousands of galaxies. Read more esawebb.org/news/weic2209/ or 👇
This is Webb’s First Deep Field, the deepest, sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe so far. It shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many more galaxies in front of and behind the cluster 👇
The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens 🔎 magnifying more distant galaxies, including some seen when the Universe was less than a billion years old 👇
Read 8 tweets

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