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James Webb telescope just found its first exoplanet and it is just like our Earth

DailyBiteJanuary 12, 2023 | 18:08 IST

NASA's $10 billion-dollar James Webb telescope has recently discovered its first exoplanet, confirmed NASA officials yesterday, January 11. 

The research team, which found the exoplanet, was led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both from the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. 

Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth's diameter

These first observational results from an Earth-size, rocky planet has opened the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb
- Mark Clampin, Astrophysics Division director at NASA 

But, what is an exoplanet? NASA explains an exoplanet as: "All of the planets in our solar system's orbit around the Sun. Planets that orbit around other stars are called exoplanets." 

Photo: An artist's representation of Kepler-11, a small, cool star around which six planets orbit. Credit: NASA/Tim Pyle

The exoplanets are very hard to see directly with telescopes as they are hidden by the bright glare of the stars they orbit.


As of March 2022, NASA has discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets. 

Not so long ago, we lived in a universe with only a small number of known planets, all of them orbiting our Sun. But a new raft of discoveries marks a scientific high point: More than 5,000 planets are now confirmed to exist beyond our solar system
- NASA

How similar is this LHS 475 b exoplanet to our planet earth? 

  • LHS 475 b is relatively a close one, at only 41 light years away from Earth, in the constellation Octans. 
  • The planet is almost exactly the same size as our home planet with a 99 per cent Earth's diameter.
  • Since LHS 475 b is an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, it also revolves around a sun, similar to our earth. 

However, the planet is a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth and can complete an orbit in two days.

Photo: James Webb Telescope

The James Webb telescope was launched on July 11, 2022, and its construction took 20 years, and cost NASA about $10 billion. 

READ MOREHubble v/s James Webb telescope: A closer look

Last updated: January 12, 2023 | 18:08
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