Webb Telescope Finds CO2 for First Time in Exoplanet Atmosphere

This image released by NASA on July 12, 2022 from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the edge of a young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Handout, NASA, AFP

The months-old James Webb Space Telescope has added another major scientific discovery to its growing list: detecting for the first time signs of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.

Although the exoplanet would never be able to support life as we know it, the successful discovery of CO2 gives researchers hope that similar observations could be carried out on rocky objects more hospitable to life, AFP said.