ADVERTISEMENT
site_logo
  • Campus
  • Happening
  • Opinion
  • People
  • News
  • #BeInspired
  • Careers
  • 40 under 40
  • Exams
  • What The FAQ
  • Videos
    • Straight Up
    • Odisha Literary Festival 2020
    • Campus Convo
    • Careers After Corona
    • Express Expressions
    • Q&A With Prabhu Chawla
    • ThinkEdu Awards 2020
  • edex_worksEDEXWORKS
ADVERTISEMENT
Space

Published: 12th September 2019     

'First discovery of many potentially habitable planets': Researchers discover vapour in exoplanet's atmosphere

The search also detected signs of water vapour in the atmosphere and Earth-like temperatures that could potentially support life

Edex Live
Edex Live
f_icon t_icon i_icon l_icon koo_icon whatsapp_icon email_icon

Share Via Email

1200px-Esa-hubble-k2-18a_impression

The planet was first discovered in 2015 by NASA's Kepler spacecraft

In an unprecedented discovery, researchers have found water outside Earth, on an exoplanet — a planet out of our solar system. This search in space also detected signs of water vapour in the atmosphere and Earth-like temperatures that could potentially support life. The faraway planet — K2-18b is eight times the mass of Earth and known as a super-Earth. The planet was first discovered in 2015 by NASA's Kepler spacecraft.


The findings were put forth in a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. In the study, researchers used archival data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope between 2016 and 2017 that captured starlight as it passed through the atmosphere of the exoplanet. Researchers state that they are sure of noticing the sign of vapour in the planet's atmosphere when the data went through algorithms. They also observed the signatures of Hydrogen and Helium in the atmosphere, two of the most abundant elements in the universe.
Another good news is the fact that the planet lies in the habitable zone of its star.


"Finding water in a potentially habitable world other than Earth is incredibly exciting," said Angelos Tsiaras, study author and research associate at the University College London's Centre for Space Exochemistry Data, cited by CNN. "With so many new super-Earths expected to be found over the next couple of decades, it is likely that this is the first discovery of many potentially habitable planets," said Ingo Waldmann, study co-author and lecturer in extrasolar planets at the University College London's Centre for Space Exochemistry Data. The Hubble Space Telescope is only sensitive to the signature of water, but future telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's ARIEL mission will be able to study exoplanet atmospheres in greater detail.

telegram
TAGS
Space

O
P
E
N

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
telegram
ADVERTISEMENT
Write to us!

If you have campus news, views, works of art, photos or just want to reach out to us, just drop us a line.

newsletter_icon
Mailbox
edexlive@gmail.com
fb_icon
Facebook
twitter_icon
Twitter
insta_icon
Instagram
ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook
ADVERTISEMENT
Tweets by Xpress_edex
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW US

Copyright - edexlive.com 2021

The New Indian Express | Dinamani | Kannada Prabha | Samakalika Malayalam | Indulgexpress | Cinema Express | Event Xpress

Contact Us | About Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Advertise With Us

Home | Live Now | Live Story | Campus Trip | Coach Calling | Live Take