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Although in recent months the news has been dominated by sensational astronomical discoveries from the ancient James Webb Space Telescope Hubble’a Telescope is by no means idle and continues to provide a wealth of fascinating data. With his help, scientists managed to discover it the smallest exoplanet to date whose atmosphere contains water vapor.
Water was found on a planet 97 light years away
planet GJ 9827d lies in the distance 97 light years away from us and orbits a red dwarf in the constellation Pisces. Its diameter is about twice that of Earth. This last factor is very important here because Until now, direct observations of the atmosphere of such small planets were not possible. The new discovery is therefore a significant breakthrough in this context.
But it’s time to answer another question: Can GJ 9827d be the second Earth we’re looking for? Unfortunately, this seems unlikely. While there is little doubt that there is water in the planet’s atmosphere, the other conditions there are particularly pronounced surface temperature over 400 °C, rather, it excludes any colonizing tendencies.
According to scientists, we’re looking at a celestial body that resembles either Neptune, with a thick atmosphere full of water vapor, or Europa, a moon of Jupiter, with vast amounts of water just beneath the surface.
Nevertheless, the researchers’ latest discovery is an important milestone in the search for Earth-like planets. Thanks to their refined methodology, it will be possible to carry out a detailed analysis of subsequent objects, not only through the Hubble Space Telescope, but also through the James Webb Space Telescope. whose high resolution will enable much more precise observations. In any case, it promises to be a fascinating time for all astronomy enthusiasts.
See: It worked. The Hubble Space Telescope has come back to life
See: Cuts at NASA. A famous telescope is damaged
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