James Webb telescope just found its first exoplanet and it is just like our Earth
NASA's $10 billion-dollar James Webb telescope has recently discovered its first exoplanet, confirmed NASA officials yesterday, January 11.
The research team, which found the exoplanet, was led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both from the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth's diameter.
But, what is an exoplanet? NASA explains an exoplanet as: "All of the planets in our solar system's orbit around the Sun. Planets that orbit around other stars are called exoplanets."
The exoplanets are very hard to see directly with telescopes as they are hidden by the bright glare of the stars they orbit.
As of March 2022, NASA has discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets.
How similar is this LHS 475 b exoplanet to our planet earth?
- LHS 475 b is relatively a close one, at only 41 light years away from Earth, in the constellation Octans.
- The planet is almost exactly the same size as our home planet with a 99 per cent Earth's diameter.
- Since LHS 475 b is an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, it also revolves around a sun, similar to our earth.
However, the planet is a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth and can complete an orbit in two days.
The James Webb telescope was launched on July 11, 2022, and its construction took 20 years, and cost NASA about $10 billion.