A few light years away from our Solar System, an exoplanet was found to be entirely covered with water. However, this water world cannot be easily compared to Earth since its deep ocean could be as hot as a pot of boiling water.
Experts discovered the strange planet after interpreting data collected using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Their findings are described in the paper "Possible Hycean conditions in the sub-Neptune TOI-270 d."
Armed with powerful tools, scientists explored the atmospheric makeup of TOI-270 d, a candidate hycean world. They used NIRSpec G395H, which covers the 2.7-5.2 micrometer range. In addition, they utilized the HST WFC3 spectrograph, which covers the 1.1-1.6 micrometer range. Professor Nikku Madhusudhan led the analysis, which revealed large signatures of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of TOI-270 d.
The discovery is part of multiple JWST GO Programs 2759, 3557, and 4098, using joint forces of NIRSpec, NIRISS, and MIRI instruments. The rare occurrence of simultaneous exoplanet TOI-270 b and d transits provided the cosmic spectacle. During the observation window, the instruments unleashed 5.3 hours of exposure time.
To read more, click here.