[ad_1]
A new study has revealed that a little-known planet lying about 110 light-years away from our solar system could harbor life.
Astronomers from the Center for Space Exochemistry, data from University College London (UCL) have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of the "exoplanet" K2-18b, a outer planet to our solar system, between the mass of the Earth and Neptune, which also has the good temperatures that could support life.
"Finding water on a potentially habitable world, other than Earth, is incredibly exciting," said in a press release Wednesday the author of the study and associate researcher at the center, Angelos Tsiaras.
The team used data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to find water vapor in the atmosphere K2–18b, by star light analysis filtered through the exoplanet atmosphere. The report was published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Wednesday.
The team of scientists also discovered that K2-18b had a mass eight times that of the Earth, which implies that the surface gravity of the planet would be eight times greater than that of our planet.
"K2-18b is not" Earth 2.0 "because it is much heavier and its atmospheric composition is different, but it brings us closer to the answer to the fundamental question: Is the Earth unique?", A declared Tsiaras.
Scientists have just discovered for the first time water on a planet outside our solar system.
Exoplanet K2-18b also has time conducive to life.
According to astronomer Bjorn Benneke, it is "the greatest step yet" towards the discovery of life on other planets. (ESA / Hubble, M. Kornmesser) pic.twitter.com/3QOOfxv0LP
– AJ + (@ajplus) September 11, 2019
K2-18b revolves around the K2-18 dwarf star in the constellation Leo, given the high activity level of its star, K2-18b could be more hostile than the Earth and risk of be exposed to more radiation, announced NASA.
"The planet is located in a system more than 100 light-years away, which means that no matter what image we are trying to obtain, it is an image of the planet 100 years ago. The light only takes seven to eight minutes to come from the sun to the sun "Earth has only 100 years to go to the planet. It is therefore impossible for us to travel, "said Tsiaras.
K2-18b is one of hundreds of "super-Earths" – planets whose masses lie between those of Earth and Neptune – discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. More than 4,000 exoplanets of all types and sizes were detected in the set.
NASA is expected to detect hundreds of additional super-Earths in the coming years.
[ad_2]
Source link