James Webb Unveils a Mysterious Planet Unlike Anything in Our Solar System

By National Institutes of Natural SciencesJanuary 18, 2025
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Artist’s impression of GJ 1214 b passing in front of its host star. The “transit method” allows astronomers to study an exoplanet by seeing which wavelengths of light dim when the star’s light passes through the exoplanet atmosphere. Credit: NAOJ

The James Webb Space Telescope has provided groundbreaking insights into a new type of exoplanet, fundamentally different from those in our Solar System, by piercing through thick cloud layers to analyze atmospheric compositions. This discovery challenges existing classifications and expands our understanding of planetary formation and characteristics.

New data from the James Webb Space Telescope, combined with advanced simulations, have revealed a completely new type of planet unlike anything in our Solar System. This discovery offers fresh insights into how planets and planetary systems form.

Astronomers have confirmed over 5,500 exoplanets orbiting stars beyond the Sun. Many of these worlds are vastly different from the planets we know, making it challenging to determine their true nature. Among the most common are planets that fall between Earth and Neptune in size. Scientists have long debated whether these planets are rocky, Earth-like worlds with thick, hydrogen-rich atmospheres or icy, Neptune-like planets enveloped by water-rich atmospheres, often called “water worlds.” However, studying these planets has been complicated by high, thick cloud layers that frequently obscure the lower atmospheres, leaving much of their nature a mystery.

The Enigma of Exoplanets
An international team of researchers led by Everett Schlawin at the University of Arizona and Steward Observatory and Kazumasa Ohno at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan used the James Webb Space Telescope to peer through the clouds on an example of this kind of exoplanet known as GJ 1214 b. Located only 48 light years from the Solar System, in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, GJ 1214 b is the easiest example of this planet to study.

Instead of a hydrogen-rich super-Earth, or a water world, the new data revealed concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) comparable to the levels found in the dense CO2 atmosphere of Venus in the Solar System. However, there were still many uncertainties in the new data.

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