James Webb telescope prepares to spy on 2 strange 'super-Earths'

Rocky planets are inherently harder to see than gaseous planets with current telescope technology, due to their smaller average luminosity. However, with the advantage of being equipped with a large mirror and having a favorable position, the James Webb space telescope will be able to reach far away planets.

Planet 55 Cancri-e is structurally quite similar to early Earth. (Photo: NASA).

Prominent among the planets in the "sight" of astronomers are 55 Cancri e - a planet with a super-hot temperature, covered with lava, and LHS 3844 b - a broken planet. lack of atmosphere. These are also two planets that will be observed by the James Webb telescope as soon as the observatory is ready to operate.

According to early descriptions, 5 Cancri e orbits its parent star at a distance of 2.4 million km, 4% of the relative distance between Mercury and the Sun.

The planet has a surface temperature above the melting point of most rocks, with one side always facing the scorching Sun. However, previous observations from the Spitzer telescope showed that there are less hot spots in the hottest regions of the planet.

Compare the sizes of 2 exotic planets with Earth and Neptune in the Solar System.

This offset heat could be due to a dense atmosphere, which has moved heat around the planet, or because lava rain occurs at night that has removed heat from the atmosphere, scientists say. .

In contrast, LHS 3844 b is much colder, and observations from the Spitzer telescope show that the planet has no atmosphere. However, scientists hope to capture the signal of the planet's surface by spectroscopy, thereby identifying the elements present on the planet.

"The exploration of these two planets is expected to give us amazing new perspectives on planets with a similar structure to Earth in general, thereby helping us better understand the history of Earth's formation since primitive," said Laura Kreidberg, the astronomer who led the project.

It is known that the James Webb telescope is currently completing the initial stages of operations, and will immediately enter its First Observation Cycle in June of this year.