Published: 14th Sep, 2019
Water vapour discovered on potentially ‘habitable’ planet. Using Hubble Space Telescope, scientists also detected the presence of hydrogen and helium in K2-18b's atmosphere.
Context
Water vapour discovered on potentially ‘habitable’ planet. Using Hubble Space Telescope, scientists also detected the presence of hydrogen and helium in K2-18b's atmosphere.
About
- K2-18b an exoplanet that orbits around a small red dwarf star K2-18, nearly 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo.
- K2-18b was first discovered in 2015 by Nasa's now retired Kepler space telescope.
- It was found orbiting within the red dwarf star's habitable zone, making it an ideal candidate to have liquid surface water.
- Having a mass that is eight times greater than Earth's, K2-18b is also known as Super-Earth exoplanets with masses between those of Earth and Neptune.
- The Kepler satellite mission discovered nearly two-third of all known exoplanets. While the mission indicated that five to 20 per cent of these are located in the habitable zone of their stars.
- Water vapour has been detected on K2-18b a potentially ‘habitable’ planet by Nasa and the European space agency's Hubble Space Telescope.
- K2-18b could be the only exoplanet known to have both water and temperatures in its atmosphere to sustain liquid water on a rocky surface
- The new finding offers an 'unprecedented opportunity' to gain insight into the composition and climate of habitable-zone planets.
- K2-18b is not ‘Earth 2.0’ as it is significantly heavier and has a different atmospheric composition.
- This study contributes to our understanding of habitable worlds beyond our Solar System and marks a new era in exoplanet research.
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