Transmission spectra are used to study the “fingerprints” of an exoplanet’s atmosphere. WASP-39 b’s spectrum marked the first time sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide were clearly detected in an exoplanet’s atmosphere.
@spacetelescope WASP-39 b is 700 light-years away. We don't actually know what it looks like, because it's too far away to resolve an image. The star and the planet combine into a single point of light.
And yet, we know that there is potassium, water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of the gas giant planet 🤯
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