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So, as a spectroscopist, it's just
been really exciting to take this very first step
into getting the best look at exoplanets
that we've ever had before.
We saw a bunch of really good observations.
So, a lot of people showed very cool spectra,
and spectra are basically what happens when you split light up
into all of its different colors.
I use spectroscopy to look for specific signatures that may
be due to different molecules.
Well, I'm always excited to share
that my hair is the absorption spectrum of hydrogen.
So, we've got, like, our little H alpha and our H beta.
So, I personally work on transition spectroscopy.
So, when a star moves in front of its planet,
it sort of filters the starlight through the gas
and the atmosphere.
And that tells you what's in the atmosphere.
I was really jazzed about the Trappist-1g spectrum
because that's a habitable zone planet.
And so even though it was just a little bit
of data on that planet, it showed that we can do it.
I think, with JWST, we're really getting
close to connecting planets in our own solar system
to planets outside our solar system.
So, JWST is one of the few observatories where
you can take a measurement on Jupiter
and also take a measurement on an exoplanet
with the same instrument.
Being able to do these kinds of observations
now sets us up really well for future space
missions in the next few decades,
which actually will be more directly focused
on answering the question of whether there is life
elsewhere in the galaxy.