Sign Of Life! Distant Exoplanet With Rare Ocean Discovered: NASA (image-www.nasa.gov)
Scientists at Nasa have announced the existence of possible rare water ocean on a giant exoplanet. This mind-blowing discovery was made by the space agency’s James web space telescope.
The researchers have named the exoplanet K2-18b. NASA has confirmed that the planet almost weigh nine times the earth. “a Hycean exoplanet, one which has the potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface”, NASA said.
The molecule which is believed to be produced by life, dimethyl sulphide has been detected on the planet. The researchers are yet to confirm whether the presence of the planet is 120 light years away or not.
Light year is a measurement of distance, it is the distance a beam of light travels in a single Earth year.
Researchers have also detected the presence of methane and Co2 in the planet’s atmosphere. Detection of this gases possibly means existence of water ocean.
Prof Nikku Madhusudhan, of the University of Cambridge, who led the research, told BBC News that his entire team were “”shocked”” when they saw the results.
“On Earth, DMS is only produced by life. The bulk of it in Earth”s atmosphere is emitted from phytoplankton in marine environments,” he said.
But Prof Madhusudhan has also said that more data is required to confirm its presence and the results are expected in a year.
“The abundance of methane and carbon dioxide and shortage of ammonia support the hypothesis that there may be a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in K2-18 b. These initial Webb observations also provided a possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulphide (DMS). On Earth, this is only produced by life. The bulk of the DMS in Earth”s atmosphere is emitted from phytoplankton in marine environments,” the Nasa press release said.
Dr Robert Massey, who is independent of the research and deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society in London, said he was excited by the results and said “We are slowly moving towards the point where we will be able to answer that big question as to whether we are alone in the Universe or not”.
But the scientists are handling the result with caution as they had made a similar claim in 2020 about the presence of phosphine, that could be produced by living organisms in the cloud of Venus which was disputed a year later as per BBC report.
The discovery was made in data from three space telescopes: Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler. The exoplanet initially came into the attention of the scientists in 2015, with the help of James Web Space telescope they were able to conduct in-depth exploration of this exoplanet.
