WASP 39b Exudes More Elements in its Atmosphere

By Yamini Sharma On Nov 23, 2022

The NASA James Webb Space Telescope has discovered traces of various elements on WASP 39b, a nearby exoplanet. In its atmosphere, these traces include Sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, potassium, and sodium. This could imply that there are other exoplanets with similar elements, making them potentially habitable worlds. The planet is known as “Hot Saturn” because it is nearly the same size as Saturn, the sixth planet in the Solar System. WASP 39b is the most recent exoplanet to be studied by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, one of the agency’s most powerful surveying instruments.
Previous research has discovered a lot of water in the “Hot Saturn” world, but whether or not it could support human life has been debated. The new findings provide astronomers with more information about other exoplanets to investigate further. This opens the door to investigating other worlds that may harbour human life beyond Earth.