Researchers from an international team of astrophysicists partly based in Montreal have just discovered an unknown extraterrestrial molecule on a planet outside our solar system
• Read also: The James Webb Telescope detects CO2 in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time
“This molecule does not match any other we expected to find. It was a surprise,” explains astrophysicist Björn Benneke, professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Montreal and member of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets.
He and five other Quebecers worked in collaboration with 125 scientists in 12 countries as part of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first month of activity in July.
The planet WASP-39b where this molecule is located is located 700 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Virgo.
Any form of life is impossible there because of its proximity to its star: the temperature is 900°C on average. That of the Earth is 15°C.
mystery molecule
Astrophysicists were looking for proof of the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of the planet, which they obtained after four hours of observation.
But their greatest surprise was to note the presence of an unidentified molecule in a quantity large enough to be taken into consideration.
When they compared the spectral signature of this molecule to the most frequent compounds of distant planets (nitric oxide, methane, oxygen, hydrogen sulphide and water vapor), at the beginning of August, they did not found no similarity.
For the moment, the researchers cannot evoke any hypothesis on the chemical composition of this molecule and on its role in the atmosphere of the targeted planet, but this work has just passed to the top of the list of the scientific priorities of the researchers.
“We independently analyzed the data from the observation mission on our own. We came to the same conclusion. This planet seems to possess a molecule that has never been described,” enthuses Professor Benneke.
To be continued
Regarding the “mystery” molecule, astrophysicist Robert Lamontagne believes that it is “too early to say that it is new to science”.
It could be that the comparisons that will be made in the coming months will reveal a relationship with known molecules elsewhere in the universe or on Earth.
THE WASP-39B PLANET
- It is among the approximately 5,000 planets outside the solar system (exoplanets) identified by astrophysicists.
- It was a prime target for the new space telescope because of its mass, about a quarter of Saturn’s, and its size, 1.3 times that of Jupiter.
- We are studying the composition of the atmosphere of this type of planet in order to better understand the chemical signature of CO2. We will be better equipped to discover planets that support life.
- The research was led by Natalie Batalha of the University of California, Santa Cruz. More than 130 researchers sign the article of Nature which appears on Monday.