New ways to observe and measure atmospheric makeup of exoplanets

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NASA officials have announced that new observations of 20 exoplanets beyond our solar system will help unlock the secrets of these worlds' atmospheric makeup.

NASA will use the small Pandora satellite to study the atmospheres of exoplanets and learn more about the stars they orbit.

The goal of the Pandora mission is to determine the makeup of these exoplanets, including the presence of hazes, clouds and water.

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"Pandora’s data will help close a major gap in our knowledge about planets and their host stars because, right now, we can’t be entirely sure how the star’s light affects measurements of what makes up exoplanet atmospheres," Elisa Quintana, Pandora’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said.

Hopefully, this will lay the foundation for interpreting exoplanet measurements and finding a habitable world for humans to colonize.

Pandora is a small satellite designed to characterize exoplanets. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab)

In particular, this will help the James Webb Telescope better determine measurements.

The Pandora satellite was launched in January, equipped with a telescope that can detect a star's brightness in visible light and its near-infrared spectrum at the same time.

Often, when conducting observations of these distant planets, the signals between water and light can distort what scientists are searching for.

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Pandora helps detangle these signals from the planet, and its star, helping us understand the planets more accurately.

The "Pink Planet," or GJ504b, is either a giant exoplanet or small brown dwarf orbiting a star. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)

Over the course of the year-long mission, Pandora will observe 20 exoplanets 10 times with a long-duration stare for 24 hours each.

"Pandora’s advantage is its ability to observe targets for extended periods at multiple wavelengths, something high-demand flagship missions like Webb cannot regularly do," Knicole Colón, the mission’s project scientist at NASA Goddard, said.

By combining Pandora's data with observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists can better determine the properties of interstellar surfaces and clearly separate star and planetary signals.

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In time, this could be the next big step in discovering habitable planets faster and collecting more data than ever before.