Extrasolar Planets Possibly Bring Life
“This is a crucial stepping stone to eventually characterizing prebiotic molecules on planets where life could exist” said team leader Mark Swain of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena.
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Orbiting around other stars are approximately 100 or more extrasolar planets, planets which orbit around a star rather than the sun. The existence of such planets is by direct astronomical observations, where it is easy to speculate but scientific endeavors have always been hard to come by. And exploring the possibility of an intelligent life form is connected to the question of whether or not the existence of extrasolar planets is real, which has been now proven by Hubble, able to detect organic molecules on planets around other stars—using a process called spectroscopy, splitting light into its components in order to reveal the patters of its various chemicals.
Gathering attention for the study of our own origins, these newly discovered planets will possibly answer questions about life beyond our own solar system. Recently in an article published in “Nature”, it was announced through the Planetary Organization with its 125 members, that an international team of planetary scientists have detected “the presence of the organic molecule methane in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet”.
What makes this special is that this is the first time organic substances have been found in a world orbiting a star at such a long distance away, instead of within our own solar system. And as we all know, the presence of organic molecules are considered essential for the existence of life. Life is built from atoms, and organic molecules are built around long chains of carbon atoms. Consisting of four main groups of organic molecules, they are used to build cells and the cellular parts: nucleic acids, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Found with the Hubble Space Telescope, extrasolar planet HD 189733b now has been recognized as having both water and the recent find of methane, the very first organic molecule to be found on an extrasolar planet, even though it has been found on many planets within our own Solar System. A planet located 63 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula or the little fox, it is described as a “hot Jupiter-type extrasolar planet”, taking just two days to complete an orbit because of its closeness to its parent star.
The importance of methane lies in the fact it is composed of carbon and hydrogen, one of the main components of natural gas, which is a product of petroleum. Nothing new on Earth, methane can be found through the production of termites, ocean and wetland environments, livestock, manmade waste landfills, and a by-product of energy generation. The odd thing about the extrasolar planet is its amount of methane is higher than previously predicted for the conventional models, as hot planets should have more carbon monoxide than methane—the extrasolar planet HD 189733b does not—and its temperature is approximately 900 degrees C, the melting point of silver.
This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 3:53 am and is filed under Public Relations, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
