Could scientists be a step closer to finding another life-filled world?
Could be. Using the Hubble telescope, scientists found an organic compound in a planet outside our solar system.
Scientists using the Hubble Telescope have for the first time found the telltale signature of the organic molecule, methane, in a planet’s atmosphere outside our solar system.
Methane is one of the chemicals of life, an organic compound in the class of molecules containing carbon. But no life is likely to exist on the large, gaseous planet known as HD 189733b, however. Its daily temperatures can reach 1340 degrees Fahrenheit.
“These measurements are a dress rehearsal for future searches for life,” said Mark Swain, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist and the lead author of a new study which appears in Nature tomorrow. “If we were able to detect [methane] on a more hospitable planet in the future, it would really be something exciting.”
Gotta hand it to these guys. They’re working with no immediate prospect of success AND with broken tools. Can you just imagine how far science would go given the attention and support it deserves?
