Spectroscopy of the exoplanet WD 1856 b (IMAGE)

University of St. Andrews

Spectroscopy of the exoplanet WD 1856 b

Caption

By using spectroscopy, the light that passed through the planet’s atmosphere during the transit can be split up into its constituent wavelengths. Doing this shows that some wavelengths are missing, because they were absorbed by molecules in the atmosphere and blocked, while other wavelengths are transmitted without being blocked. This “transmission spectrum” therefore shows which molecules are present in the planet’s atmosphere. 

Credit

ESA/Ryan MacDonald

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