| Legendary Hubble Telescope Discovers Water Vapor on Tiny Exoplanet |
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| By [Author Name] |
The legendary space telescope habble continues to surprise: this time it managed to capture signs of water vapor in the atmosphere of the tiniest exoplanet known to us – GJ 9827D. GJ 9827D, with a size slightly larger than half of Earth’s diameter, is located 97 light-years away from us in the constellation of Fish.
“Detection of water vapor on such a miniature planet is a truly epoch-making achievement,” notes Laura Craidberg from the Institute of Astronomy named after Max Planck in Germany.
However, it is unlikely that GJ 9827D is suitable for life as it orbits its star in just 6.2 days at a distance much closer than Mercury is to the Sun. Due to this proximity, the planet is incredibly hot, resembling more of a hot steam ball than a potential ocean planet capable of harboring life.
“For the first time, we have direct confirmation that planets in other systems can have water, thanks to the analysis of their atmospheres,” says Björn Benneke from the Canadian Institute for Exoplanet Research.
Astronomers observed the transits (periodic passage along the star’s disk) of GJ 9827D for three years. They recorded a total of 11 such transits. By analyzing the data from these observations, scientists were able to determine the presence of water vapor. The results of the study were published in the authoritative scientific journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“The detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of such a tiny planet shows that such objects can be very common, considering that GJ 9827 is a red dwarf, the most common type of star in the galaxy,” says Dr. Jennifer Weissman from NASA.
However, scientists cannot ascertain whether GJ 9827D is an ocean planet or a mini-Neptune with an atmosphere primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. In the latter case, the hydrogen might have gone unnoticed