CAPE CANAVERAL Florida. - In the dim, red light of an alien sun, scientists have found the first evidence for water in the atmosphere of a rocky planet - offering a tantalizing new target in the search for life in the universe.
Twice as large as our own planet and eight times as massive, K2-18b possesses powerful gravity that would make it difficult to walk upon. It orbits close to a red dwarf star, much smaller and cooler than our sun. Scientists had previously detected water only in the atmospheres of"gas giants" - huge exoplanets that lack solid surfaces, much like Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system.Even a planet like K2-18b can be examined only with humanity's most sensitive space telescope - the Hubble.
As the starlight filtered through the planet's atmosphere, some of it would be absorbed by the gases in the planet's air. By separating the light into its component parts, the scientists could look for signatures of particular molecules. The planet could have thick clouds, like Venus, that would heat its surface to an intolerable degree. Or its atmosphere might be so thin and insubstantial that it offers no protection from the perils of space, like the atmosphere of Mars.
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