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The resonant chain of the TRAPPIST-1 planets is dynamically fragile, as small perturbations during its lifetime would have disrupted it. N-body simulations show that the system could not have interacted with more than 0.05 Earth masses of material after its formation. Thus, any water in the planets must come from the planets’ original accretion.

Hubble observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system exclude the presence of H₂-dominated cloud-free atmospheres for the three planets within or around the system’s habitable zone. This result supports the hypothesis that these planets are terrestrial in nature.

The SPECULOOS project detected an Earth-sized planet in a short orbit around a nearby Jupiter-sized star. This planet, SPECULOOS-3 b, is one of the most promising rocky exoplanets for detailed emission spectroscopy characterization with JWST.

It is reported using a consistent climate model that pure steam atmospheres are commonly shaped by radiative layers, making their thermal structure strongly dependent on the stellar spectrum and internal heat flow.

Global climate model simulations of early Venus and Earth show that differences in the cloud regimes prevented ocean formation on Venus but not on Earth.

Absorption lines of iron in the dayside atmosphere of an ultrahot giant exoplanet disappear after travelling across the nightside, showing that the iron has condensed during its travel.

The detection of thermal emission from the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c using the Mid-Infrared Instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope reveals a dayside brightness temperature that disfavours a thick, CO₂-rich atmosphere.

Orbital parameters for the seventh Earth-sized transiting planet around star TRAPPIST-1 are reported, along with an investigation into the complex three-body resonances linking every member of this planetary system.

Last year, three Earth-sized planets were discovered to be orbiting the nearby Jupiter-sized star TRAPPIST-1; now, follow-up photometric observations from the ground and from space show that there are at least seven Earth-sized planets in this star system, and that they might be the right temperature to harbour liquid water on their surfaces.

A longitudinal thermal brightness map of the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e reveals strong day–night temperature contrast, indicating inefficient heat redistribution consistent with 55 Cancri e either being devoid of atmosphere or having an optically thick atmosphere with heat recirculation confined to the planetary dayside.

The JWST has the potential to increase our understanding of terrestrial exoplanets and their atmospheres, but the various signal contaminations need to be isolated and quantified. Using JWST Cycle 1 observations of TRAPPIST-1 as a benchmark, this Perspective proposes a series of steps to use future JWST data efficiently for this purpose.