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Completion of Workshop on Water Recling Simulation and Modelling: Unlocking the Future of Water Management
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19 March, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

We are thrilled to announce the successful...

IJITIS Journal Meeting and SWOT Analysis at TULTECH
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15 January, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

Greetings, TULTECH community! In our...

A Milestone Meeting for EIL: Shaping the Future of Environmental Industry Letters
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15 December, 2023 by Charlotte Lee

Dear TULTECH Community, We are delighted to...

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Universe composed of water? Large exoplanet's environment contains methane and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Posted on 22 September, 2023 by Charlotte Lee

Universe composed of water? Large exoplanet's environment contains methane and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Hubble Space Telescope observations provided the first look at this habitable-zone exoplanet, revealing details about its atmosphere that led to further research that fundamentally altered our understanding of the system.
K2-18 b is located in the constellation Leo, 120 light-years from Earth, and orbits the cold dwarf star K2-18 within the habitable zone. K2-18 b is one of the many exoplanets that are completely unique to our solar system because of its intermediate size between that of Earth and Neptune. Due to the lack of analogous nearby planets, the nature of these'sub-Neptunes'' atmospheres is a hotly contested topic among astronomers.
Some scientists have high hopes for finding signs of life on exoplanets, and the possibility that sub-Neptune K2-18 b is a Hycean exoplanet is interesting.
Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the publication revealing these results, said, "Our findings underscore the importance of considering diverse habitable environments in the search for life elsewhere." The larger Hycean worlds are much more suitable to atmospheric observations, although smaller rocky planets have traditionally been the primary focus of the hunt for life on exoplanets.
Methane and carbon dioxide are plentiful, whereas ammonia is scarce, lending credence to the idea that K2-18 b has a water ocean beneath its hydrogen-rich atmosphere. These preliminary Webb observations may have also shown the presence of a chemical known as dimethyl sulphide (DMS). Only living things on Earth are capable of making this. Phytoplankton in marine areas are responsible for releasing the vast majority of DMS into Earth's atmosphere.
Scientist Savvas Constantinou of Cambridge University noted that their findings were based on only two observations of K2-18 b, but that many more were on the way. Accordingly, "this means our work here is but an early demonstration of what Webb can observe in habitable-zone exoplanets."
The team's findings will be published in the Letters section of The Astrophysical Journal.
To further confirm these findings and shed new light on the environmental conditions on K2-18 b, the team plans to perform follow-up research using the telescope's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) spectrograph.
If life were found on a habitable exoplanet, "it would transform our understanding of our place in the universe," Madhusudhan said. According to the authors, "our findings are a promising step towards a deeper understanding of Hycean worlds in this quest."
 

Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre contributed the materials used in this blog post. Editing for clarity and length may occur.

 

Today In History

Here are some interesting facts ih history happened on 3 July.

  1. City of Quebec founded by Samuel de Champlain
  2. Washington takes command of Continental Army at Cambridge Mass.
  3. 1st savings bank in US (Bank of Savings in NYC) opens its doors
  4. John Couch Adams decides to determine the position of an unknown planet by the irregularities it causes in the motion of Uranus.
  5. slaves freed in Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands).
  6. Pony Express arrives in SF with overland letters from NY
  7. Battle of Gettysburg Pa ends in a major victory for the North
  8. Idaho becomes 43rd state.
  9. US Navy defeats Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago Cuba
  10. US military forces occupy Haiti remain until 1934.
  11. Lou Gehrig day Gehrig makes 'luckiest man' speech
  12. 1st time American & North Korean forces clash in the Korean War
  13. Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule
  14. Soyuz 14 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3.
  15. Israel launches rescue of passengers & Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers
  16. 73 096 in Cleveland watch Indians beat Yankees 7-0
  17. Martina Navratilova deats Chris Evert Lloyd at Wimbeldon
  18. Calvin Smith of US becomes fastest man alive (36.25 kph for 100 m).
  19. Supreme Court rules Jaycees may be forced to admit women as members
  20. Dolphin rocket launched off San Clemente Island.
  21. CBS announced it would buy back 21 percent of its own stock
  22. Pres Reagan presided over relighting of renovated Statue of Liberty