Scientists Observe Carbon Dioxide on Planets Outside the Solar System for the First Time

Carbon dioxide has been detected on a planet outside our solar system for the first time. The gas has been observed directly by the James Webb Space Telescope on four exoplanets, all belonging to the HR 8799 system, located 130 light-years from Earth. The detection of CO 2 offers clues as to how distant planets form, with the observations providing strong evidence that these four giant planets formed in much the same way as Jupiter and Saturn, through the slow formation of solid cores. The findings were published in the most recent issue of The Astronomical Journal. “By detecting these strong formations of carbon dioxide, we have shown that there is a considerable fraction of heavier elements, such as carbon, oxygen, and iron, in the atmospheres of these planets,” William Balmer, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of the paper, said in a statement to NASA. “Given what we know about the star they orbit, this probably indicates that they formed by core accreti ... Read full article.