The James Webb Space Telescope just zoomed in on the atmosphere of a planet discovered in 2020 -- and now we have the clearest data ever about an exoplanet. The awkwardly named Planet TOI-421b's exoplanet status means that it doesn't orbit our sun. (Exoplanets are defined as any planet beyond our solar system.) Don't expect to travel there an...
The James Webb Space Telescope just zoomed in on the atmosphere of a planet discovered in 2020 -- and now we have the clearest data ever about an exoplanet. The awkwardly named Planet TOI-421b's exoplanet status means that it doesn't orbit our sun. (Exoplanets are defined as any planet beyond our solar system.) Don't expect to travel there any time soon. It's 244 light-years away from the Earth -- for comparison, the dwarf planet Pluto is only five and a half light-hours from us. The planet orbits a star that is similar to our sun. It is considered a sub-Neptune planet because it's larger than Earth, but smaller than Neptune, which is four times larger than Earth.