The James Webb Space Telescope has found its first exoplanet
Big news! The groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has achieved yet another milestone with the discovery of its first exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star.
The exoplanet, named LHS 475 b, is a planet roughly the same size as Earth while being a few hundred degrees hotter.
It was discovered through a technique called the transit method, where a telescope watches very carefully for an exoplanet to pass in front of its star, causing an observed drop in the star’s brightness.
While other telescopes are able to detect exoplanets this way, only JWST is able to analyze the atmospheres of Earth-sized planets. Another round of observations is scheduled for this summer to investigate LHS 475 b even further.
To learn more about the discoveries made by the JWST, check out our live planetarium show “Wonders from the Webb Telescope & Beyond!” Click here to see showtimes and get tickets.
