Nasa JWST discovers first of its kind 'steam planet'

New observations by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa’s) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggested a nearby alien exoplanet is shrouded in a thick envelope of steam.

This world, which is located around 100 light-years away from the Earth, has been designated as GJ 9827 d, reported Space.

It is around twice the size of the Earth and three times more massive than our planet with an atmosphere almost entirely composed of water vapour.

"This is the first time we're ever seeing something like this," team member and former University of Michigan undergraduate student Eshan Raul, currently at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stated.

"The planet appears to be made mostly of hot water vapour, making it something we're calling a 'steam world.' To be clear, this planet isn't hospitable to at least the types of life that we're familiar with on Earth,” the statement added.

It is worth noting that astronomers have long assumed that "steam worlds" like GJ 9827 d could exist, however, this is the first time such an exoplanet has been observed.

This planet is unlikely to support life, at least as we understand it, but it could help astronomers study other small exoplanets between the size of Earth and Neptune that are habitable, according to Raul.

Additionally, exoplanet GJ 9827 d's steamy nature was discovered by the study team using a technique called "transmission spectroscopy."

The team was led by Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb from the University of Montréal's Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanet.