James Webb Telescope Discovers Water Vapor on Distant Exoplanet

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study exoplanets are facing a challenge in distinguishing between the atmosphere of a planet and the outer layers of the red dwarf star it orbits. The issue arises because stars are known to hold water vapor, which can mimic a planet's atmosphere in transit data. To solve the mystery, astronomers will have to find different ways to measure what's going on with the planet and its star. Red dwarf stars are prone to flares, prominences, starspots, and other activity mostly fueled by magnetic fields, but we don't know enough about their inner structures to model that activity in detail.