APOD: 2023 January 24 – LHS 475 b: Earth Sized Exoplanet

Good morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the January 24th edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): "LHS 475b: Earth Sized Exoplanet." An exoplanet is one that orbits another star (other than our Sun). Earlier this month (January 11th), researchers announced confirmation of an exoplanet based on data gathered from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is only 40 light years away from us. The planet is almost exactly the same size as Earth, clocking in at 99% of Earth’s diameter.

Targets of interest were initially identified by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which also hinted at the planet’s existence. The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) aboard the JWST captured the planet easily and clearly with only two transit observations.

But what might the planet look like? That's where today's APOD comes in. The JWST revealed that the planet is a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth, so if clouds are detected, it may lead the researchers to conclude that the planet is more like Venus, which has a carbon dioxide atmosphere and is perpetually shrouded in thick clouds. Enter some artificial intelligence (AI) visualization tools based on what we do know about Venus. I think the results may be fairly accurate.