Perhaps surprisingly, the majority of stars in the galaxy are not sun clones but smaller orbs of gas and plasma known as red dwarfs, about half the size of Earth's star. Astronomers have had their sights set on these stars as tantalizing places to look for habitable worlds for a while now. Not only are they the most populous stars, but their planets are easier to study from a practical standpoint.
Current atmosphere-detecting methods work best when planets orbit fairly close to their stars in space . Red dwarf stars' relatively cooler temperatures present an opportunity for worlds to be closer without getting fried. Despite red dwarfs' potential, no one knows for sure whether their worlds can have atmospheres, or what chemicals could be within their air.
Scientists will soon begin to answer those questions with the James Webb Space Telescope , a partnership of NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts. A new large-scale program will budget about 500 hours for observing rocky exoplanets orbiting small red stars, specifically to search for atmospheres. Though the survey is designated for Webb's fourth research cycle, which starts next July, observations may begin sooner, said Néstor Espinoza, an astronomer heading the program's implementation team.
"This is one of those high-risk, high-reward programs," he told Mashable. "Imagine that for all of the targets, we detect atmospheres. Then you answer the question, 'Yes, atmospheres are very common around these stars.
That m.