A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins University in the United States conducted a series of experiments in a custom-designed chamber within a specialized laboratory, with the aim of creating a model of the thick fogs that characterize the atmospheres of aquatic exoplanets. These are the first experiments that have managed to determine how much haze can form on water planets beyond the Solar System: they are based on data provided by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The research, which has recently been published in the journal Nature Astronomy, offers new conclusions to analyze in depth the atmospheric chemistry of exoplanets: will allow scientists to model in detail how extrasolar aquatic planets form and evolve, distant worlds that, by containing water in various forms, could at the same time harbor life or be potentially habitable.

A breakthrough in the search for extraterrestrial life

“To determine if there is life outside the Solar System we need very detailed modeling of all the different types of atmospheres, specifically on planets with a lot of water. “This has been a big challenge, because we simply do not have a previous laboratory design to do it, so we are trying to use new experimental techniques to get more out of the data we are collecting with JWST and other advanced telescopes,” he said in a statement. Press release researcher Sarah Hörst, one of the authors of the new study.

The fog that characterizes the atmospheres of aquatic exoplanets consists of solid particles suspended in gas, and alters the way light interacts with that gas. Different levels and types of haze can affect the way particles propagate through the atmospheres of these distant worlds, likewise changing what scientists can detect and reveal with their telescopes about these extrasolar planets.

Beyond the fog

“He water It’s the first thing we look for when we try to see if a planet is habitable, and there are already interesting observations of water in exoplanet atmospheres. But our experiments and models suggest that these planets probably also contain haze: this fog complicates our observationsas it limits our view of the atmospheric chemistry and molecular characteristics of an exoplanet,” said scientist Chao He, leader of the research group, in the statement.

Consequently, the new model created by American researchers represents a great advance in solving the problem indicated by He, since it becomes a new and powerful tool to discover how the fog in the atmospheres of aquatic exoplanets. By delimiting its influence, specialists will be able to see beyond it and not lose the possibility of obtaining new features about these alien worlds.

Reference

Optical properties of organic haze analogues in water-rich exoplanet atmospheres observable with JWST. Chao He et al. Nature Astronomy (2023). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02140-4