Earth-like planet that may contain water studied by NASA's Webb telescope

Scientists are observing earth-like exoplanet that may contain water using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the space agency said in a news release.

The exoplanet, known as TRAPPIST-1 e, orbits the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 . The system was discovered in 2017 . There are seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the star, but planet e is the only one that is at a distance where water on the surface is "theoretically possible," NASA said. However, astronomers still need to determine if the planet has an atmosphere.

To look for an atmosphere , NASA scientists directed the Webb telescope's Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument at the TRAPPIST-1 system as planet e passed in front of the star . If the planet has an atmosphere, the starlight that passes through it will be partial