Educational purpose only

1. DISCOVERY IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE:
NASA Finds Evidence of CarbonDioxide in
Exoplanet Atmosphere
Presentedby:
REMMAB. GREGORIO
MS. ROSEBETHG. SINGULAR
Teacher

2. • The newly deployed
James Webb Space
Telescope has
discovered the first
clear evidence of
carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere of a planet
outside our solar
system.

3. The American space agency
NASA confirmed the evidence, which
it said was discovered in the
atmosphere of a planet orbiting a
star about 700 light years from
Earth. Planets that orbit a star
outside our solar system are called
exoplanets.

4. NASA said the exoplanet where the
carbon dioxide was found, or
detected, is a hot, gas planet. It was
discovered in 2011 and is called
WASP-39 b. The exoplanet – which
has a mass about the same as
Saturn’s – stays around 900
degrees Celsius. It remains hot
because it orbits very close to its
star.

5. James Webb
Space Telescope

6. The space agency said the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have
made observations of WASP-39 b in the past. Those observations
suggested the presence of water vapor,sodium, and potassium in the
exoplanet’s atmosphere.
But now, the presence of carbon dioxide has also been confirmed in its
atmosphere. NASA said the Webb telescope was able to make the
discovery because of its unusual technical abilities.

8. NASA said a sensitive, infrared instrument made it
possible for the orbiting observatory to confirm the
presence of carbon dioxide in WASP-39 b’s
atmosphere. The instrument is called a Near-Infrared
Spectrograph (NIRSpec).

9. NatalieBatalha of the University of
California at Santa Cruz helped lead the
team. She said, “Detecting such a clear
signal of carbon dioxide on WASP-39
b bodes well for the detection of
atmospheres on smaller,terrestrial-sized
planets.”
NASA said such discoveries are important
because they help scientists better
understand the makeup of a planet’s
atmosphere. This can provide valuable
information about how planets formed and
developed over time.

10. • “Carbon dioxide molecules are sensitivetracers of the story of planet
formation,” said Mike Line of Arizona State University. He is another member
of the research team. “By measuring this carbon dioxide…, we can determine
how much solid versus how much gaseous material was used to form this
gas giant planet.”
• Line added that the Webb telescope is expected to continue making similar
discoveries in coming years. In doing so, scientists can gain “insight intothe
details of how planets form and theuniqueness of our own solar system.”

12. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English,
based on reports from NASA, Agence France-Presse
and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

13. THANK YOU!

14. REFERENCE
• https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nasa-finds-
evidence-of-carbon-dioxide-in-exoplanet-
atmosphere/6727347.html#:~:text=NASA%20said%20the
%20exoplanet%20where,very%20close%20to%20its%20
star.