Discover the first exoplanet with atmosphere
A team of scientists from the Southern European Observatory has just spotted the first planet with atmospheric conditions. The atmosphere of the planet GJ 1132b, located about 39 light years from Earth, could contain methane and water vapor.
Researcher John Southworth, a professor at Keele University, UK, explains that the finding proves that this class of exoplanets can maintain an atmosphere for millions of years, despite being bombarded by high energy photons from His mother star.
The GJ 1132b, discovered in 2015, reaches maximum temperatures of 232 ° C. This feature makes possible the existence of an atmosphere, and makes it an ideal candidate to study the possibility of extraterrestrial life in nearby galaxies.
The planet is now one of the main research goals of the Hubble telescope and the Southern Observatory.
