NASA's Hubble discovers water vapor on small exoplanet
The planet represents the potential existence of water-rich atmospheres on planets beyond our solar system
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting water vapor in the atmosphere of the small exoplanet GJ 9827d.
The planet, with a diameter approximately twice that of Earth, represents a significant finding and provides insights into the potential existence of water-rich atmospheres on planets beyond our solar system.
"This would be the first time that we can directly show through an atmospheric detection, that these planets with water-rich atmospheres can actually exist around other stars," said Björn Benneke, a member of the research team from the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Université de Montréal.
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The detection of water on a planet of this size marks a landmark discovery, with co-principal investigator Laura Kreidberg of Max Planck Institute for Astronomy stating, "It pushes closer than ever to characterizing truly Earth-like worlds."
However, scientists are cautious about interpreting the findings entirely. The discovery raises questions about whether the water vapor is a dominant component or merely a small species in a hydrogen-dominant atmosphere.
Pierre-Alexis Roy, lead author of the research paper, explained, "Either result would be exciting, whether water vapor is dominant or just a tiny species in a hydrogen-dominant atmosphere."
The scorching temperature of GJ 9827d, comparable to Venus at 800 degrees Fahrenheit, makes it an inhospitable, steamy world if its atmosphere is predominantly water vapor.
Scientists now contemplate two possibilities: the planet may still retain a hydrogen-rich atmosphere mixed with water, resembling a mini-Neptune, or it could be a warmer version of Jupiter's moon Europa, with a composition of half water and half rock.
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The discovery opens avenues for further exploration, and Thomas Greene, astrophysicist at NASA's Ames Research Center, emphasizes that "observing water is a gateway to finding other things."
GJ 9827d, discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in 2017, completes an orbit around a red dwarf star every 6.2 days and lies 97 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pisces.