![[NASA] James Webb Space Telescope has taken a close look at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e. A primary atmosphere is considered unlikely, but researchers can’t yet confidently rule out a secondary atmosphere since many of the data points fit either scenario](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/6ZhApMNVGJY7yGP_VxF8AV18kLrvx4Gq7JA3NNPjhsE-1024x576.jpeg "[NASA] James Webb Space Telescope has taken a close look at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e. A primary atmosphere is considered unlikely, but researchers can’t yet confidently rule out a secondary atmosphere since many of the data points fit either scenario")
[NASA] James Webb Space Telescope has taken a close look at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e. A primary atmosphere is considered unlikely, but researchers can’t yet confidently rule out a secondary atmosphere since many of the data points fit either scenario
NASA Webb Looks at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e
2 Comments
Hope isn’t lost for TRAPPIST-1e. There’s an ongoing set of observations to eliminate stellar contamination by timing 15 transits between planet b and e, since b is ruled to be airless, so any emission spectra they get can be discarded as being from the star, not the planet (if I’m summarizing that correctly).
In one of the papers, they do mention that an N2 dominated atmosphere with lower amounts of CO2 and CH4 does fit the data, but again, they can’t be certain, and having no atmosphere whatsoever is also a possibility. But it is very interesting that an Earth-like atmosphere is still on the table. They did rule out a a Mars-like or Venus-like atmosphere, and a H2 dominated atmosphere (the primary atmosphere), so they’re still looking for the secondary atmosphere that the planet built up after formation.
Still, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
This is the type of post I wish would gain more traction in the sub. Instead of the daily political crying post with 200 comments.