Wiretapping a Star: How a Naked Planet Helps Find Air ⚡ экспресс
Original: "JWST TRAPPIST-1 e/b Program: Motivation and first observations"
Astronomers pulled a clever trick: an airless planet became a microphone, recording only the star's static.
Links in the knowledge graph 1
To sniff out air on a distant planet, astronomers set up a wiretap: first they recorded the star's noise using a naked neighboring planet. When the star stayed quiet, the trick worked. Now they just need the perfect weather on TRAPPIST-1 to find out if life breathes there.
🎯 The TRAPPIST-1 system is so compact that all its planets could fit inside Mercury's orbit. A year on TRAPPIST-1 e lasts just 6 Earth days.