Webb telescope spots CO2 on exoplanet for first time

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first unambiguous evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside the Solar System. The telescope gleaned information about the composition of the gas giant WASP-39b as it moved across the face of its star. Starlight shone through the planet’s atmosphere, where various molecules absorbed specific wavelengths of infrared light, creating the telltale absorption spectrum in the image above. The result has bolstered confidence that Webb is going to be revolutionary for exoplanet research.