By Nick Baum
THURSDAY – 9/12/19
Astronomers yesterday published findings from an investigation into the Hubble Telescope from 2016 to 2017, and said they discovered water vapor within the planet’s atmosphere. Furthermore, they have already confirmed that the planet holds a temperature that’s habitable for humans.
The exoplanet, known as K2-18b, is eight times the mass of Earth and is known as a super Earth, a planet between the size of Earth and Neptune. K2-18b orbits orbits a red dwarf star, and was discovered in 2015 by NASA. The planet is 110 light years away from Earth.
Using archival data, the astronomers managed to piece together the fact that there was water vapor in its atmosphere. What has made researchers particularly excited however is that the planet is within a habitable zone of its star, giving it the right possible climate.
Sources and Pictures: Khuh, CNN, NASA
