Major discovery in search of Alien life: Water detected on Exoplanet K2-18b

The similarities between the exoplanet K2-18b and the Earth suggest to astronomers that the exoplanet may potentially have a water cycle possibly allowing water to condense into clouds and liquid water rain to fall.

The M-type star is smaller and cooler than our Sun, but due to K2-18b's close proximity to its star, the planet receives almost the same total amount of energy from its star as our Earth receives from the Sun. Image Credit: earthsky.com
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Monday (September 16): A new study by Professor Björn Benneke of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the Université de Montréal reports the detection of water vapour and perhaps even liquid water clouds in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b.

Kepler satellite mission has discovered nearly 2/3 of all known exoplanets to date, and it indicates that 5 to 20% of Earths and super-Earths are located in the habitable zone of their stars.

About K2-18B:

This exoplanet is about nine times more massive than our Earth and is found in the habitable zone of the star it orbits. This M-type star is smaller and cooler than our Sun, but due to K2-18b’s close proximity to its star, the planet receives almost the same total amount of energy from its star as our Earth receives from the Sun.

The similarities between the exoplanet K2-18b and the Earth suggest to astronomers that the exoplanet may potentially have a water cycle possibly allowing water to condense into clouds and liquid water rain to fall. This detection was made possible by combining eight transit observations — the moment when an exoplanet passes in front of its star — taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

By studying these planets which are in the habitable zone of their star and have the right conditions for liquid water, astronomers are one step closer to directly detecting signs of life beyond our Solar System.

Ever since the discovery of the first exoplanet in the 1990s, astronomers have made steady progress towards finding and probing planets located in the habitable zone of their stars, where conditions can lead to the formation of liquid water and the proliferation of life.

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