UAE researcher helped show that planet 700 light years away has CO2 in its atmosphere – The National

UAE researcher helped show that planet 700 light years away has CO2 in its atmosphere – The National

A New York University Abu Dhabi scientist is part of a team of researchers that has discovered the first instance of the presence of carbon dioxide on a planet outside the solar system.

Jasmina Blecic has co-authored a groundbreaking new study that reveals that the gas exists in the atmosphere of Wasp-39b, a giant planet orbiting a star 700 light years from Earth.

The scientists used information from Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope to draw their conclusions about Wasp-39b, which is the first exoplanet — a planet that orbits a star outside the solar system — where carbon dioxide has been detected.