Using the James Webb Space Telescope, US space agency NASA has taken a closer look at an exoplanet called K2-18b and discovered carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide – an indication of possible traces of life. The celestial body may be a so-called Hycean planet, she reports.
The planet, which was discovered in 2015 using the Kepler space observatory, has the potential to have “a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a surface covered with water and oceans,” NASA writes. his website. It orbits in the so-called habitable zone (the condition for life on Earth’s surface, mind you) around its star, a cool red dwarf called K2-18.
Exoplanets like K2-18 b, whose sizes are between Earth and Neptune, are unlike anything in our solar system. This lack of equivalent nearby planets means that these ‘sub-Neptunes’ are poorly understood and the nature of their atmospheres is the subject of active debate among astronomers.
Researchers suspect there is a water world on the planet
The suggestion that sub-Neptune K2-18 b could be a Hycean planet (the term Hycean is composed of the English words hydrogen for water and ocean for ocean, note) is fascinating, as some astronomers believe that these water worlds hold promising environments. for searching for evidence of life on exoplanets, according to NASA.
The abundance of methane and carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the lack of ammonia support the hypothesis that an ocean of water may exist under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere on K2-18 b. These first observations with the James Webb telescope also showed the possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS), NASA reports. On Earth, DMS is created only by life. Most of the dimethyl sulfide in Earth’s atmosphere is emitted by phytoplankton in the oceans and freshwater bodies.
Telescope 1.5 million kilometers from Earth
The “James Webb Space Telescope” (JWST, photo below), which was also built with Austrian participation, was launched into space in December 2021 after decades of preparation and some delays. It is now over one and a half million kilometers away from our Earth.
The JWST examines the early days of the cosmos, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, about 13.8 billion years ago. Astronomers hope that the data sent to Earth from the observatory will allow them to draw conclusions about the formation of the first stars and galaxies. The telescope also scans the sky for exoplanets.
Source: Krone
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