A substance created by living organisms on Earth, considered one of the most valuable biosignatures by astronomers, has just been revealed in the spectrum of a planet named WASP-80b.
WASP-80b is a warm, giant gas planet with a mass equivalent to half that of Jupiter. It belongs to a star system that is approximately 1.5 billion years old, located 162 light-years away from us.
Using the advanced James Webb Space Telescope, a team of scientists led by NASA has made a “golden discovery”: Methane and water vapor in the atmosphere of WASP-80b.
WASP-80b’s atmosphere is rich in methane – (Image: NASA).
Methane and water vapor are considered two of the potential signs of life that astronomers hope to find on other planets.
Among these, the discovery of methane is of particular interest.
On Earth, a significant amount of methane is produced by living organisms. While methane can also have abiotic origins, those are minimal. Therefore, the detection of abundant methane on another world is seen as a biosignature.
According to a publication in the scientific journal Nature, the discovery about WASP-80b serves as a detailed guide for scientists on how they can utilize the “young” James Webb observational tool to identify potentially habitable worlds.
Designed primarily to hunt for ancient objects billions of light-years away to study the early universe, the James Webb Space Telescope is also being utilized to gather detailed spectra of the atmospheres of distant planets.
This data reveals the chemical composition of the atmosphere, including components that could suggest the presence of life or the planet’s ability to sustain life.
The detection of methane from 162 light-years away by James Webb is a breakthrough. This planet is also difficult to observe as it is too close to its parent star, submerged in light.
The only unfortunate aspect is that life as we know it is unlikely to exist on WASP-80b, a gas planet with a surface temperature reaching 550 degrees Celsius. Of course, the possibility of extreme organisms cannot be ruled out, as this planet remains puzzling due to its abundant methane.
According to NASA, the discovery of methane in an exoplanet’s atmosphere also enhances our understanding of how this biosignature exists on planets within the Solar System.
In addition to suggesting the possibility of life, methane also provides insights into how planets form and how they have “migrated” farther away or closer to their parent stars in the past.
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