Hubble Finds Water Vapor On Distant Exoplanet
-
- Produced by:
- Paul Morris
- View full credits
With data from the Hubble Space Telescope, water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere of a super-Earth within the habitable zone of its host star.
K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is the only planet orbiting a star outside the solar system (or “exoplanet”) within the habitable zone.
For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul R. Morris (USRA): Lead Producer
Music credits: "Only Human" by Guillaume Bernard [SACEM]; Universal Production Music
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
-
Producer
- Paul Morris (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
-
Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Related pages
-
-
ID: 14259 Produced Video
Two Exoplanets May Be Water Worlds
Read moreUsing data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, astronomers have found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a star 218 light-years away are “water worlds,” where water makes up a large fraction of the entire planet.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Image Credit:Water World next to EarthBenoit Gougeon, Université de MontréalMusic & Sound“Space Museum” by Harry Gregson Williams [BMI] and Ho Ling Tang [BMI] via Atmosphere Music Ltd. [PRS] and Universal Production Music ||
-
ID: 14169 Produced Video
Dead Star Caught Ripping Up Planetary System
Read moreA star’s death throes have so violently disrupted its planetary system that the dead star left behind, called a white dwarf, is siphoning off debris from both the system’s inner and outer reaches. This is the first time astronomers have observed a white dwarf star that is consuming both rocky-metallic and icy material, the ingredients of planets. Archival data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA observatories were essential in diagnosing this case of cosmic cannibalism. The findings help describe the violent nature of evolved planetary systems and can tell astronomers about the makeup of newly forming systems.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Music & Sound“Through a Computer Screen” by Raphael Olivier [SACEM] via KTSA Publishing [SACEM] and Universal Production MusicESA Credit:Ring of rocky debris around a white dwarf star (artist’s impression)Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and G. Bacon (STScI)Evaporating extrasolar planet, from Video (artist's impression)Credit: ESA, Alfred Vidal-Madjar (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, France) and NASA.Red Giant SunCredit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)Flight through our Solar SystemCredit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)ESO Credit:Comets in Solar SystemCredit on screen with : ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org) ||
-
ID: 13194 Produced Video
Distant Planet May Be On Its Second Atmosphere, NASA’s Hubble Finds
Read moreScientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star that may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is hypothesized to have begun as a gaseous world with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. Starting out at several times the diameter of Earth, this so-called “sub-Neptune” is believed to have quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere due to the intense radiation of the hot, young star it orbits. In a short period of time, such a planet would be stripped down to a bare core about the size of Earth. That’s when things got interesting.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Additional Visualizations:Artist’s impression of Exoplanet GJ 1132 b: Robert HurtAtmosphere escaping an exoplanet (artist’s impression): NASA, ESA, M. KornmesserArtist’s impression of WASP-107b: ESA/Hubble, NASA, M. KornmesserVideo animation of of Exoplanet GJ 1132 b: Robert HurtAerial of oozing red lava in Hawaii: ArtbeatsAerial from Puu Oo volcanic vents on Hawaii's Kilauea: ArtbeatsExovolcano Animation Background Only: Michael LentzIllustration depicting one interpretation of planet GJ 357 c: Chris SmithMusic Credits: "Planetary Exploration" by Richard Andrew Canavan [PRS] via Sound Pocket Music [PRS], and Universal Production Music. ||
-
ID: 13418 Produced Video
Hubble: Voyage of Discovery
Read moreThe Hubble Space Telescope has transformed our understanding of the universe, its view from orbit unleashing a flood of cosmic discoveries that have changed astronomy forever. From its discovery of dark energy to its quest to determine the age of the universe, Hubble has helped answer some of the most compelling astronomical questions of our time and revealed even stranger phenomena, opening our eyes to the grandeur and mystery of space.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterPaul R. Morris (USRA): Lead ProducerTracy Vogel: Lead WriterMusic Credits: "Above the Stars" by Magnum Opus [ ASCAP ] Universal Production Music ||
-
ID: 13742 Produced Video
Hubble's Extraordinary ULLYSES Program
Read moreThe universe would be a pretty boring place without stars. Without them, the universe would remain a diffuse plasma of mostly hydrogen and helium from the big bang. To better understand stellar evolution, a new Hubble initiative has been launched called ULLYSES (UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). This is the largest observing program ever undertaken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which will be used to look at over 300 stars. Ultraviolet (UV) light from the target stars will be used to produce a library of the spectral fingerprints of young, low-mass stars from eight star-forming regions in the Milky Way, as well as fully mature high-mass stars in several nearby dwarf galaxies including the Magellanic Clouds.For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.Music Credits:"Red Giant" by Christian Tschuggnall [AKM] and Michael Edwards [APRA] via Atmosphere Music Ltd [PRS] and Universal Production Music ||
-
ID: 13593 Produced Video
Hubble’s 30th Year in Orbit
Read moreOn April 24, 2020, the Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 30th year in orbit by premiering a never-before-seen view of two stunning nebulas named NGC 2020 and NGC 2014. Even after all these years, Hubble continues to uncover the mysteries of the universe. These are a few science achievements from Hubble’s latest year in orbit.For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope and its images, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.Music Credits:“Twist of Fate” by Axel Tenner [GEMA], Michael Schluecker [GEMA], and Raphael Schalz [GEMA]. Berlin Production Music and Universal Production Music. ||
-
ID: 13310 Produced Video
Hubble Finds Water Vapor On Distant Exoplanet Soundbites
Read moreClick HERE for FULL STORY about this exciting discovery.Click for quick link to soundbites from interview with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman. || Its size and surface gravity are much larger than Earth’s, and its radiation environment may be hostile, but a distant planet called K2-18b has captured the interest of scientists all over the world. For the first time, researchers have detected water vapor signatures in the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system that resides in the "habitable zone," the region around a star in which liquid water could potentially pool on the surface of a rocky planet.Astronomers at the Center for Space Exochemistry Data at the University College London in the United Kingdom used data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to find water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18b, an exoplanet around a small red dwarf star about 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo. If confirmed by further studies, this will be the only exoplanet known to have both water in its atmosphere and temperatures that could sustain liquid water on a rocky surface. Liquid water would only be possible if the planet turns out to be terrestrial in nature, rather than resembling a small version of Neptune.Given the high level of activity of its red dwarf star, K2-18b may be more hostile to life as we know it than Earth, as it is likely to be exposed to more high-energy radiation. The planet, discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in 2015, also has a mass eight times greater than Earth's. That means the surface gravity on this planet would be significantly higher than on our planet.The team used archive data from 2016 and 2017 captured by Hubble and developed open-source algorithms to analyze the host star’s light filtered through K2-18b’s atmosphere. The results revealed the molecular signature of water vapor, and also suggest the presence of hydrogen and helium in the planet’s atmosphere.The authors of the paper, published in Nature Astronomy, believe that other molecules, including nitrogen and methane, may be present but they remain undetectable with current observations. Further studies are required to estimate cloud coverage and the percentage of atmospheric water present. A paper from a different team of scientists using Hubble observations has been submitted to the Astronomical Journal.K2-18b is one of hundreds of "super-Earths" — exoplanets with masses between those of Earth and Neptune — found by Kepler. NASA’s TESS mission is expected to detect hundreds more super-Earths in the coming years. The next generation of space telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope, will be able to characterize exoplanet atmospheres in more detail.The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA. ||
-
ID: 13189 Produced Video
Hubble's 29th Anniversary
Read moreOn April 24, 2019, the Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 29th year in orbit by premiering a never-before-seen view of the Southern Crab Nebula. Even after all these years, Hubble continues to uncover the mysteries of the universe. These are a few science achievements from Hubble’s latest year in orbit.For more information, visit nasa.gov/hubble.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Tim ChildersMusic Credits: “Fortress Europe” by Dan Bodan from the YouTube audio library. || Horizontal versionWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel ||
-
ID: 12844 Produced Video
![Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credit: "Deep Groove" by Danny McCarthy [ASCAP] and Thomas Dill [ASCAP]; Soundcast Music SESAC; Chronic Trax; Killer Tracks Production Music](/vis/a010000/a012800/a012844/hubble_trappist_2018-thumbnail.png)
Hubble Observes Atmospheres of TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone
Read moreAstronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first spectroscopic survey of Earth-sized planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system's habitable zone. Hubble reveals that at least the inner five planets do not seem to contain puffy, hydrogen-rich atmospheres similar to gaseous planets such as Neptune. This means the atmospheres may be more shallow and rich in heavier gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen.Find the full story and press release at hubblesite.org.Read the joint Hubble and Spitzer findings on nasa.gov.The science paper is available from Nature Astronomy. ||
-
ID: 12319 Produced Video
Hubble Makes First Measurements of Earth-Sized Exoplanet Atmospheres
Read moreWatch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Music credit: "Feels Good" by Louise Dowd and Stephen William Cornish, Atmosphere Music Ltd, Killer Tracks Production Music || On May 4th, 2016, the Hubble Space Telescope made the first spectroscopic measurements of two of the three known Earth-sized exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system just 40 light-years away. Now the results are in: a thick, puffy, hydrogen-helium atmosphere is likely ruled out from the possible range of atmospheres for these two planets.Additional visuals from the European Southern Observatory can be downloaded here: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1615/E ||
-
ID: 11898 Produced Video
Hubble Detects "Sunscreen" Layer on Distant Planet
Read moreANIMATION Using NASA’s Hubble Telescope, scientists detected a stratosphere on the planet WASP-33b. A stratosphere occurs when molecules in the atmosphere absorb ultraviolet and visible light from the star. This absorption warms the stratosphere and acts as a kind of sunscreen layer for the planet below.Watch this video on YouTube. || Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have detected a stratosphere, one of the primary layers of Earth’s atmosphere, on a massive and blazing-hot exoplanet known as WASP-33b.The presence of a stratosphere can provide clues about the composition of a planet and how it formed. This atmospheric layer includes molecules that absorb ultraviolet and visible light, acting as a kind of “sunscreen” for the planet it surrounds. Until now, scientists were uncertain whether these molecules would be found in the atmospheres of large, extremely hot planets in other star systems.Learn more on NASA.gov. ||
-