#JWST
4 posts
Exoplanet Atmospheres: How Webb Reads the Chemistry of Alien Worlds
When an exoplanet passes in front of its star, a fraction of starlight filters through the planet's atmosphere. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths, leaving a chemical fingerprint. JWST is already detecting water, CO2, and methane in worlds dozens of light-years away.
What James Webb Has Already Taught Us About the Early Universe
The James Webb Space Telescope has been operating for less than three years and has already rewritten our understanding of the early universe — detecting galaxies from within 300 million years of the Big Bang and challenging the standard timeline of cosmic structure formation.
Biosignatures: How Scientists Would Recognize Life on Another World
If life exists on another planet, how would we know? We cannot visit most exoplanets, but we can analyze the light filtering through their atmospheres. A living biosphere leaves chemical fingerprints that dead chemistry alone cannot produce.
Lagrange Points: The Gravitational Sweet Spots We Park Spacecraft In
In any two-body gravitational system — like the Earth and the Sun — there are five special positions where a third, smaller body can sit in a stable or semi-stable equilibrium. These Lagrange points are some of the most valuable real estate in the solar system: the James Webb Space Telescope sits at L2, SOHO monitors the Sun from L1, and future space settlements have been proposed at Earth-Moon L4 and L5.