There are some planets that certainly cannot support life. But strangely, there was water there.
In 1995, astronomers first discovered a planet outside of our solar system (exoplanet) that orbits a star like our own Sun. This planet, 51 Pegasi b, is located 51 light years from Earth.
51 Pegasi b is like an extremely hot version of Jupiter – also a gas giant, but due to its orbit too close to its host star, the temperature is terribly high. On the one hand, it is in this hell that the experts found water.
Specifically, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics expert group identified that 51 Pegasi b’s atmosphere contains water vapor. Using the giant VLT telescope in Chile, they observed the planet’s orbit for 4 hours (the planet completes its orbit around the star in just 101.5 hours).
This way, they can see the spectral change as light from the planet approaches Earth, thus determining what is inside the planet’s atmosphere. And what they found was “very clear vapor evidence” – says Matteo Brogi of the University of Colorado – member of the team.
51 Pegasi b is in fact not the first alien planet discovered. This title goes to HD 114762 – a giant gas globe in 1989.
However, this study plays a very important role, because it is the first time that scientists apply the technique of light spectroscopy analysis of exoplanets, whereas in the past it was only possible to use the bypass method. transit method – the light of a star is bent under the gravitational field of its planets).
In addition, water is one of the essential components of life. Sure, 51 Pegasi b can’t feed any life, but find as much water as possible, right?
