Artist's illustration of WASP-39b displays newly detected patches of clouds scattered across the planet

New observations of WASP-39b with the JWST have provided a clearer picture of the exoplanet, showing the presence of sodium, potassium, water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide in the planet's atmosphere. This artist's illustration also displays newly detected patches of clouds scattered across the planet.

Credit: Melissa Weiss/Center for Astrophysics / Harvard and Smithsonian

New JWST data reveals exoplanet atmosphere first

Exoplanets and planetary physics
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics

University of Oxford academics have contributed to the most comprehensive molecular and chemical analysis of an exoplanet’s atmosphere, enabled by new data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The suite of discoveries is detailed in a set of five new scientific papers, to be published in the journal Nature.