KU astronomers lead project that finds evidence of water vapor on planet outside our solar system

KU

Jan 13, 2022 – 1:59pm

<!– –>

• 
• 

A pair of University of Kansas astronomers have made a steamy discovery — an exoplanet that shows signs of water vapor in its atmosphere.

Jonathan Brande, a physics and astronomy doctoral student at KU, and Ian Crossfield, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, released findings Thursday about an exoplanet 150 light years from Earth that exhibits signs of having water vapor — a rare occurrence on planets other than Earth.

The researchers used the Hubble Telescope to observe the exoplanet, which is a bit larger than Neptune. The discovery of water vapor raises the questions of whether the exoplanet — a term for a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system — could support life, but at a news conference hosted by the American Astronomical Society, the researchers said it is not thought to be a habitable place, according to a report from NBC News.

But the discovery is expected to help scientists understand how planets form and take on different characteristics. Brande said large planets like Neptune and Uranus don’t nicely fit into any of the models used to describe how our solar system was created. But studying exoplanets of a similar size might help answer some questions.

“We’ve discovered thousands of exoplanets, and many of the most common ones are likely to be more like Uranus and Neptune than they are Earth, making understanding a diversity of exoplanets critical to understanding our own solar system planets,” Brande said in a press release.

The recent finding also may make it more likely that the pair of KU astronomers will be able to use the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, a more powerful telescope than the Hubble Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope will allow researchers to study exoplanets in more detail.

“Our detection of water vapor in this planet with the Hubble Space Telescope is just a foretaste of what we’ll be able to learn about exoplanet atmospheres with NASA’s just-launched James Webb Space Telescope,” Crossfield said.

---

More Story on Source:

*here*

KU astronomers lead project that finds evidence of water vapor on planet outside our solar system