Exoplanet K2-18b (Artist's Impression) (IMAGE)

University College London

Exoplanet K2-18b (Artist's Impression)

Caption

This artist's impression shows the planet K2-18b, its host star and an accompanying planet in this system. K2-18b is now the only super-Earth exoplanet known to host both water and temperatures that could support life. UCL researchers used archive data from 2016 and 2017 captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and developed open-source algorithms to analyse the starlight filtered through K2-18b's atmosphere. The results revealed the molecular signature of water vapour, also indicating the presence of hydrogen and helium in the planet's atmosphere.

Credit

Credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

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Must credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

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