NASA's Webb Is So Good But We Might Need Improved Planetary Models
NASA's state-of-the-art Space Telescope (JWST) is bringing images of the universe with unprecedented clarity. Astronomers are using this telescope's light parsing precision to decode the atmosphere of the surrounding world. But it is also not as accurate as predicted. James Webb's method of interpreting data is not as accurate as previously estimated, according to a new press release published by MIT on Thursday. According to the researchers, the properties of planetary atmospheres, such as temperature, pressure, elemental composition, could be off by an order of magnitude as determined by the telescope. These views of researchers published in a study in Nature Astronomy. Julian de Witt, an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) and co-author of this study, says there is a scientifically significant difference between a water-like compound being present at 5 percent versus the 25 percent which current mode