WASP-96b was firstly discovered in 2013 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP). It was said to be a gas giant exoplanet with a mass of 0.48 Jupiters. It is about 1,120 light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Phoenix.
The atmospheric spectrum from James Webb Space Telescope was one of the first ones to capture and release a scientific image of the planet in July 2022, which captured the most detailed spectrum of an exoplanet’s atmosphere ever. It confirmed something that WASP never saw at first – it confirmed that the planet has water, and clouds and hazes like atmosphere and it also orbits its Sun-like star WASP-96 every 3.5 Earth days. Due to its proximity to its Sun-like planet, it was discovered that the temperature on WASP-96b is greater than 1000 degrees F. Only Webb Space Telescope’s design can make such detailed observations and can provide such accurate data. Due to its 270-square foot gold-coated mirror, the infrared light is collected efficiently, which produces thousands of infrared colours and the sensitive detectors measure very delicate differences in brightness. Due to its highly accurate specs and stability, it enables us to gather much more accurate and close information and hopefully even discover some signs of life and other entities in the nearest future.
Is it possible that there are other entities living on this planet or any other planet? Are they searching for us or have they already found us but are keeping quiet? With James Webb Space Telescope features and advancements, we are one step closer to discovering other planets and hoping to discover extraterrestrial life or a planet that could potentially become the new home for some of us.
