Dordt University professor participates in JWST ‘weather report’: patchy clouds of metal and rock

Dr. Channon Visscher, professor of chemistry and planetary sciences at Dordt University, was part of a research team studying SIMP J0136, a roughly Jupiter-sized object 20 light-years away, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). “The goal of this work was to closely study the atmosphere of a planetary-mass object (about 13 times the mass of Jupiter) located 20 light years away in the constellation of Pisces,” explains Visscher. “The reason we’re interested in this particular object is because it is much warmer than the planets in our solar system, so we can actually see things like iron metal and rocky silicate cloud layers.”

The 5-hour JWST observation was designed to look for weather patterns in these clouds—"basically a weather report but for much more extreme conditions,” adds Visscher.

Supported by an STScI grant through the Space Science Institute (SSI) and performed at Dordt University, Visscher's role in the project was to study the chemistry of potential cloud materials—such as metals and minerals—in the object's atmosphere, and to help estimate the altitudes at which these cloud layers could form.

“These studies help us better understand the connections between what we can observe in the upper atmospheres of planets and the underlying chemical and physical processes that are responsible,” says Visscher. “By studying a much larger population of objects we can build important clues about the formation and development of planetary systems, including our own.”

This project also aligns with Visscher’s previous and current work at Dordt. “It fits in well with some of our past and ongoing research—exploring chemical processes in the atmospheres of these substellar objects (particularly objects that fall in the space between planets and stars) and how chemistry shapes their appearance,” explains Visscher. “It’s also fun to see how the processes we explore in some of our chemistry courses at Dordt can be applied to these new astrophysical systems, including studying things like metal clouds, which have now been confirmed from numerous observations.”

For Visscher, the broader implications of this research extend beyond just the technical findings. “This, and other results from JWST, not only further emphasize the beauty and majesty of creation, but also the rich diversity found across thousands and thousands of exoplanet systems. It really is worlds without end.”

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.