With a star shield (Google it) to block out light from the parent star, the James Webb telescope should be adequate to get a spectroscopic reading of the atmosphere - if it has one, of course. A professor at MIT (Sara Seager) has been active trying to drum up support for a star shield and large telescope. I recall her saying the Webb would be good for any close-by planets. Can't get any closer than this one.
I'm just a layman but I don't have high hopes for this one at all. The flare activity of the parent star is a deal-breaker, I fear. It would never give an atmosphere a chance to even develop - never mind maintain itself. But who knows? It's still exciting news. Now we know that two stars within 5 light years of each other both have earth-sized planets in the Goldilocks zone. That has pretty wild implications.
I'm just a layman but I don't have high hopes for this one at all. The flare activity of the parent star is a deal-breaker, I fear. It would never give an atmosphere a chance to even develop - never mind maintain itself. But who knows? It's still exciting news. Now we know that two stars within 5 light years of each other both have earth-sized planets in the Goldilocks zone. That has pretty wild implications.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
