Voice of America
12 Sep 2019, 05:35 GMT+10
British scientists say they have found water for the first time in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.
Researchers at University College London said Wednesday they found water vapor in a planet's air 110 light years from Earth that has temperatures suitable for life as we know it.
More than 4,000 exoplanets have been detected, but scientists say it is the only known exoplanet that has water, temperatures needed for life and a rocky surface.
It is not known if the planet, twice the size of Earth, eight times its mass, has water flowing on its surface.
But scientists say the so-called Super Earth is an ideal distance from its sun to conceivably harbor life.
The planet, known as K2-18b, was discovered in 2015 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
"Finding water in a potentially habitable world other than Earth is incredibly exciting," said Angelos Tsiaras, lead author of the UCL report that was published in the journal Nature Astronomy. "K2-18b is not 'Earth 2.0' but it brings us closer to answering the fundamental question: Is the Earth unique?"
Scientists expect future space missions to detect hundreds of other exoplanets in coming decades.
A new generation of space exploration instruments will be able to describe exoplanet atmospheres in much greater detail.
The European Space Agency's ARIEL space telescope, for example, is scheduled for launch in 2028 and will observe some 1,000 planets, a sampling large enough to identify patterns and outliers.
Get a daily dose of Herald Globe news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Herald Globe.
More InformationA Chinese government survey ship was intercepted "running dark" without broadcasting its position via AIS (Automated Identification System) by Indonesian ...
WASHINGTON, DC The man who struck down three U.S. Capitol Police officers with a fire extinguisher during last week's storming ...
WASHINGTON, DC - A Utah man has been charged with breaking into the U.S. Capitol last week wearing a bullet-proof ...
Provided by Xinhua | &A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has killed 35 people in Indonesia, injuring 637 and displacing around 15,000 people.JAKARTA, ...
Five United Nations peacekeepers lost their lives on Wednesday, 4 in Mali and one in the Central African Republic. 4 ...
Frank Lampard hailed "outstanding" goalscorer Mason Mount after his late strike handed Chelsea a 1-0 win over 10-man Fulham.The 22-year-old ...
Serie A leaders AC Milan will be without French defender Theo Hernandez and Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu for Monday's game ...
Frank Lampard hailed "outstanding" goalscorer Mason Mount after his late strike handed Chelsea a 1-0 win over 10-man Fulham.The 22-year-old ...
Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted Leeds' recent run of results has left him worried after their 1-0 home Premier ...
David Moyes was impressed by the performance of fit-again Michail Antonio as he fired West Ham to a 1-0 victory ...
John Hopkins University reported early Sunday there are 94.5 million global COVID-19 cases. The United States leads the world in ...
Manchester [UK], January 17 (ANI): Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has urged the team not to become complacent as ...