First Water Detected on Planet in the Habitable Zone
11 September 2019
With data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, water vapour has been detected in the atmosphere of a super-Earth within the habitable zone by University College London (UCL) researchers in a world first. K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System, or exoplanet, known to have both water and temperatures that could support life.
The discovery, published today in Nature Astronomy, is the first successful atmospheric detection of an exoplanet orbiting in its star’s habitable zone, at a distance where water can exist in liquid form.
First author, Dr Angelos Tsiaras (UCL Centre for Space Exochemistry Data,CSED), said: “Finding water on a potentially habitable world other than Earth is incredibly exciting. K2-18b is not ‘Earth 2.0’ as it is significantly heavier and has a different atmospheric composition. However, it brings us closer to answering the fundamental question: Is the Earth unique?”
The team used archive data from 2016 and 2017 captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and developed open-source algorithms to analyse the starlight filtered through K2-18b’s atmosphere [1]. The results revealed the molecular signature of water vapour, also indicating the presence of hydrogen and helium in the planet’s atmosphere.
The authors believe that other molecules, including nitrogen and methane, may be present but they remain undetectable with current observations. Further studies are required to estimate cloud coverage and the percentage of atmospheric water present.
The planet orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18, which is 110 light years from Earth in the constellation of Leo. Given the high level of activity of its red dwarf star, K2-18b may be more hostile than Earth and is likely to be exposed to more radiation.
K2-18b was discovered in 2015 and is one of hundreds of super-Earths — planets with masses between those of Earth and Neptune — found by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. NASA’s TESS mission is expected to detect hundreds more super-Earths in the coming years.
Co-author Dr Ingo Waldmann (UCL CSED), said: “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. This is not only because super-Earths like K2-18b are the most common planets in our Milky Way, but also because red dwarfs — stars smaller than our Sun — are the most common stars.”
The next generation of space telescopes, including the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and ESA’s ARIEL mission, will be able to characterise atmospheres in more detail as they will carry more advanced instruments. ARIEL is expected to launch in 2028 and will observe 1,000 planets in detail to get a truly representative picture of what they are like.
Professor Giovanna Tinetti (UCL CSED), co-author and Principal Investigator for ARIEL, said: “Our discovery makes K2-18b one of the most interesting targets for future study. Over 4000 exoplanets have been detected but we don’t know much about their composition and nature. By observing a large sample of planets, we hope to reveal secrets about their chemistry, formation and evolution.”
“This study contributes to our understanding of habitable worlds beyond our Solar System and marks a new era in exoplanet research, crucial to ultimately placing the Earth, our only home, into the greater picture of the Cosmos,” said Dr Tsiaras.
First Water Detected on Planet in the Habitable Zone
11 September 2019
With data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, water vapour has been detected in the atmosphere of a super-Earth within the habitable zone by University College London (UCL) researchers in a world first. K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System, or exoplanet, known to have both water and temperatures that could support life.
The discovery, published today in Nature Astronomy, is the first successful atmospheric detection of an exoplanet orbiting in its star’s habitable zone, at a distance where water can exist in liquid form.
First author, Dr Angelos Tsiaras (UCL Centre for Space Exochemistry Data,CSED), said: “Finding water on a potentially habitable world other than Earth is incredibly exciting. K2-18b is not ‘Earth 2.0’ as it is significantly heavier and has a different atmospheric composition. However, it brings us closer to answering the fundamental question: Is the Earth unique?”
The team used archive data from 2016 and 2017 captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and developed open-source algorithms to analyse the starlight filtered through K2-18b’s atmosphere [1]. The results revealed the molecular signature of water vapour, also indicating the presence of hydrogen and helium in the planet’s atmosphere.
The authors believe that other molecules, including nitrogen and methane, may be present but they remain undetectable with current observations. Further studies are required to estimate cloud coverage and the percentage of atmospheric water present.
The planet orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18, which is 110 light years from Earth in the constellation of Leo. Given the high level of activity of its red dwarf star, K2-18b may be more hostile than Earth and is likely to be exposed to more radiation.
K2-18b was discovered in 2015 and is one of hundreds of super-Earths — planets with masses between those of Earth and Neptune — found by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. NASA’s TESS mission is expected to detect hundreds more super-Earths in the coming years.
Co-author Dr Ingo Waldmann (UCL CSED), said: “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. This is not only because super-Earths like K2-18b are the most common planets in our Milky Way, but also because red dwarfs — stars smaller than our Sun — are the most common stars.”
The next generation of space telescopes, including the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and ESA’s ARIEL mission, will be able to characterise atmospheres in more detail as they will carry more advanced instruments. ARIEL is expected to launch in 2028 and will observe 1,000 planets in detail to get a truly representative picture of what they are like.
Professor Giovanna Tinetti (UCL CSED), co-author and Principal Investigator for ARIEL, said: “Our discovery makes K2-18b one of the most interesting targets for future study. Over 4000 exoplanets have been detected but we don’t know much about their composition and nature. By observing a large sample of planets, we hope to reveal secrets about their chemistry, formation and evolution.”
“This study contributes to our understanding of habitable worlds beyond our Solar System and marks a new era in exoplanet research, crucial to ultimately placing the Earth, our only home, into the greater picture of the Cosmos,” said Dr Tsiaras.
God definitely created more than one earth-like planet. I bet there's crazy Avatar type planets out there--not sure about aliens, but definitely awesome alien flora.
October 16th, 2020. Thank you Pastor John (P)
January 7th. (D)
Other advanced species in the universe have figured out how to bend and fold space to reach Earth in manageable time, I’m sure eventually we’ll evolve to that level of intelligence in a minute or two.
lettherebehouse wrote:Other advanced species in the universe have figured out how to bend and fold space to reach Earth in manageable time, I’m sure eventually we’ll evolve to that level of intelligence in a minute or two.
We're probably a few thousand years away from that, at best.
We're not even a Type 1 civilization yet.
You never liked me, probably don't like me still, but a ***** liking me aint never paid my bills
It would only take about 2,952,785.6 years to get there at our current fastest space travel.
I'm sure advances in space travel will never occur.
Oh for sure.
If we managed to quadruple our current maximum space travel speed it would only take 738,196 years.
Much more manageable.
150 years ago the fastest machine on the planet went about....what, 40 MPH?
The Parker Solar Probe, as it approaches the sun, will reach speeds upwards of 400,000 MPH. That's a factor of 10,000 in just 150 years. You really think humans won't someday discover the ability to travel at light speed or beyond?
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are dumber than that.
Robceltsfan wrote:
I'm sure advances in space travel will never occur.
Oh for sure.
If we managed to quadruple our current maximum space travel speed it would only take 738,196 years.
Much more manageable.
150 years ago the fastest machine on the planet went about....what, 40 MPH?
The Parker Solar Probe, as it approaches the sun, will reach speeds upwards of 400,000 MPH. That's a factor of 10,000 in just 150 years. You really think humans won't someday discover the ability to travel at light speed or beyond?
Our space travel speed hasn't changed in about 40-50 years.
Like I told house we're many thousands of years away from light speed travel being anything close to realistic.
You never liked me, probably don't like me still, but a ***** liking me aint never paid my bills
If we managed to quadruple our current maximum space travel speed it would only take 738,196 years.
Much more manageable.
150 years ago the fastest machine on the planet went about....what, 40 MPH?
The Parker Solar Probe, as it approaches the sun, will reach speeds upwards of 400,000 MPH. That's a factor of 10,000 in just 150 years. You really think humans won't someday discover the ability to travel at light speed or beyond?
Our space travel speed hasn't changed in about 40-50 years.
Like I told house we're many thousands of years away from light speed travel being anything close to realistic.
I completely disagree. Hundreds maybe....but not thousands.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are dumber than that.
Robceltsfan wrote:
150 years ago the fastest machine on the planet went about....what, 40 MPH?
The Parker Solar Probe, as it approaches the sun, will reach speeds upwards of 400,000 MPH. That's a factor of 10,000 in just 150 years. You really think humans won't someday discover the ability to travel at light speed or beyond?
Our space travel speed hasn't changed in about 40-50 years.
Like I told house we're many thousands of years away from light speed travel being anything close to realistic.
I completely disagree. Hundreds maybe....but not thousands.
At the current time, humanity has not yet reached Type 1 civilization status. Physicist and futurist Michio Kaku suggested that humans may attain Type I status in 100–200 years, Type II status in a few thousand years, and Type III status in 100,000 to a million years.
Type I
Technological level of a civilization that is "close to the level presently attained on earth, with energy consumption at ≈4×1019 erg/sec" (4×1012 watts).[1] Currently, the civilization of Type I is usually defined as one that can harness all the energy that falls on a planet from its parent star (for Earth–Sun system, this value is close to 1.74×1017 watts), which is about four orders of magnitude higher than the amount presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈2×1013 watts. The astronomer Guillermo A. Lemarchand stated this as a level near contemporary terrestrial civilization with an energy capability equivalent to the solar insolation on Earth, between 1016 and 1017 watts.[2]
Type II
A civilization capable of harnessing the energy radiated by its own star—for example, the stage of successful construction of a Dyson sphere—with energy consumption at ≈4×1033 erg/sec.[1] Lemarchand stated this as a civilization capable of utilizing and channeling the entire radiation output of its star. The energy utilization would then be comparable to the luminosity of the Sun, about 4×1033 erg/sec (4×1026 watts).[2]
Type III
A civilization in possession of energy at the scale of its own galaxy, with energy consumption at ≈4×1044 erg/sec.[1] Lemarchand stated this as a civilization with access to the power comparable to the luminosity of the entire Milky Way galaxy, about 4×1044 erg/sec (4×1037 watts).
You never liked me, probably don't like me still, but a ***** liking me aint never paid my bills
Robceltsfan wrote:
I'm sure advances in space travel will never occur.
Oh for sure.
If we managed to quadruple our current maximum space travel speed it would only take 738,196 years.
Much more manageable.
150 years ago the fastest machine on the planet went about....what, 40 MPH?
The Parker Solar Probe, as it approaches the sun, will reach speeds upwards of 400,000 MPH. That's a factor of 10,000 in just 150 years. You really think humans won't someday discover the ability to travel at light speed or beyond?
it's impossible to travel light speed.
October 16th, 2020. Thank you Pastor John (P)
January 7th. (D)
If we managed to quadruple our current maximum space travel speed it would only take 738,196 years.
Much more manageable.
150 years ago the fastest machine on the planet went about....what, 40 MPH?
The Parker Solar Probe, as it approaches the sun, will reach speeds upwards of 400,000 MPH. That's a factor of 10,000 in just 150 years. You really think humans won't someday discover the ability to travel at light speed or beyond?
it's impossible to travel light speed.
They said the same thing about the speed of sound. And the Earth was flat. And the wheel didn't exist.
Don't be small minded, Dan.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are dumber than that.
LeBronMonsterDunk wrote:
Our space travel speed hasn't changed in about 40-50 years.
Like I told house we're many thousands of years away from light speed travel being anything close to realistic.
I completely disagree. Hundreds maybe....but not thousands.
At the current time, humanity has not yet reached Type 1 civilization status. Physicist and futurist Michio Kaku suggested that humans may attain Type I status in 100–200 years, Type II status in a few thousand years, and Type III status in 100,000 to a million years.
Type I
Technological level of a civilization that is "close to the level presently attained on earth, with energy consumption at ≈4×1019 erg/sec" (4×1012 watts).[1] Currently, the civilization of Type I is usually defined as one that can harness all the energy that falls on a planet from its parent star (for Earth–Sun system, this value is close to 1.74×1017 watts), which is about four orders of magnitude higher than the amount presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈2×1013 watts. The astronomer Guillermo A. Lemarchand stated this as a level near contemporary terrestrial civilization with an energy capability equivalent to the solar insolation on Earth, between 1016 and 1017 watts.[2]
Type II
A civilization capable of harnessing the energy radiated by its own star—for example, the stage of successful construction of a Dyson sphere—with energy consumption at ≈4×1033 erg/sec.[1] Lemarchand stated this as a civilization capable of utilizing and channeling the entire radiation output of its star. The energy utilization would then be comparable to the luminosity of the Sun, about 4×1033 erg/sec (4×1026 watts).[2]
Type III
A civilization in possession of energy at the scale of its own galaxy, with energy consumption at ≈4×1044 erg/sec.[1] Lemarchand stated this as a civilization with access to the power comparable to the luminosity of the entire Milky Way galaxy, about 4×1044 erg/sec (4×1037 watts).
Well I'm sure Mr. Kaku really knows his shit.....and is 100% correct.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are dumber than that.
