TRAPPIST-1 b Measured by Webb: Hot, Airless

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Gillon (Univ. of Lige, Belgium), Animator Amy Moran (GST) [Lead]'s image: TRAPPIST-1 planetary system and infrared observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC. (released March 22, 2017)

The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system is news again, this time because we've taken the innermost planet's temperature.

That, by itself, isn’t newsworthy. We've been using infrared observations to learn how hot exoplanets are at least since 2006.1

What makes the latest observations special is that they’re the first time scientists have measured a comparatively small, cool exoplanet's temperature.That's what I'll be talking about this week, along with whatever else comes to mind.

More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

(JWST takes temperature of TRAPPIST-1 b: the first detection of any form of light emitted by such a small, cool exoplanet. Space art and the color of stars.)

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