The Hubble Space Telescope has observed the smallest known planet outside the solar system contains water in its atmospherethe American and European space agencies announced.
The planet GJ9827dwhose diameter is approximately double that of the Earth, is located in the constellation Pisces, 97 light years awaythat is, more than 900 billion kilometers, according to a statement from NASA and ESA.
It is believed to be a “Mini-Neptune”, with an atmosphere rich in hydrogen and water, or a hotter version of a Jupiter moon, containing twice as much water under the crust as Earth.
“GJ 9827d could be composed “half water and half rock”explained Björn Benneke, of the University of Montreal, co-director of the research.
“There would be a lot of water vapor in the smaller rock masses and until now we had not been able to directly detect the atmosphere of such a small planet. And little by little we are succeeding,” he explained.
For her part, Laura Kreidberg, of the Max Planck Institute in Germany and co-director of the research, stated that “water on such a small planet is a resource important discovery and brings us closer than ever to the description of truly Earth-like worlds.”
For three years, Hubble analyzed the wavelength colors of GJ 9827d’s atmosphere, as light from the star it orbits filters through its atmosphere, and detected the presence of water molecules.
Although this planet has a water-rich atmosphere, Its temperature of 425 degrees makes it uninhabitable.
The discovery paves the way for further studies of GJ 9827d and similar planets, particularly using the James Webb Space Telescope, which can use its high-resolution infrared images to search for other atmospheric molecules, such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Source: Clarin
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