NASA Finds Possibility Of Water Oceans On Exoplanets K2-18b

The James Webb space telescope finds carbon in the exoplanet atmosphere K2-18b. (Doc. NASA)

JAKARTA - The James Webb Space Telescope of the United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shares data regarding chemical compounds found on exoplanets or extrasolar planets.

This planet is K2-18b, the first planet discovered orbiting a red dwarf star. The chemical compounds found in K2-18b are starting to be linked to living organisms, but the data is still unclear.

Quoted from Space, K2-18b showed signs of water vapor in 2019. The discovery of this steam is believed to be liquid water appearing on the surface, so K2-18b is thought to have a large ocean.

After the Hubble Space Telescope's discovery, this news slowly faded due to lack of evidence. Now, estimates of the existence of this ocean are becoming stronger with the findings of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

The telescope identified the presence of carbon dioxide, meta, and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) compounds in the atmosphere. This DMS needs further investigation because it is only produced on earth by algae, autotrophic, and heterotrophic organisms.

So far, it is worth emphasizing that it is highly unlikely that DMS occurs naturally. Therefore, scientists are increasingly convinced that there is life on planet K2-18b.

However, this finding cannot be said to be accurate. The method used to determine what is in an exoplanet's atmosphere involves light coming from the edge of the atmosphere.

This research is also difficult because it is difficult to find subjective research space, especially since the light that penetrates the atmosphere contains chemicals that come from stars.

Even though the odds are low, the results are not necessarily impossible. At least, the James Webb Space Telescope was able to successfully identify an exoplanet that most likely holds water even though the exoplanet is very far from Earth.