Earth 2.0: NASA's James Webb telescope discovers a nearly Earth-sized exoplanet

NASA’s largest and most powerful space science telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made the groundbreaking discovery of a planet that is around 99 per cent the size of Earth. It is located in the constellation Otans, and is just 41 light years away from our home planet. The newly discovered exoplanet has formally been classified as LHS 475 b., and currently not much is known about its atmosphere and whether it is fit to be inhabited by humans. While researchers have ruled out a thick methane-dominated atmosphere similar to that of Saturn’s moon Titan, they say that atmospheric compositions like a pure carbon dioxide atmosphere have not been ruled out.

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The newly discovered space object has been classified as an exoplanet as it orbits another star and is terrestrial, i.e., it is a rocky planet, composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. As per a Daily Mail report, it completes the orbit in two days.

IANS reports that the planet is a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth.

As per the team behind this discovery, the James Webb telescope has proven just how powerful its technology is. Talking to the press, Mark Clampin, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, said that the find opens the door “to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb.”

He remarked that the telescope “is bringing us closer and closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is only just getting started.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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