Discovering “two water worlds”

Science – this discovery is not a startAvatar 2: Water RoadBut it is a real scientific result. A team of researchers from the University of Montreal discovered it through telescopes Hubble and Spitzer NASA reports that two of the outer planets will be composed primarily of water.

The study conducted by these scientists was published December 15 in the journal Nature natural astronomy. Located 218 light-years away from the constellation Lyra, these two exoplanets, also called “water worlds” even if they are not habitable by humans, orbit a dwarf star, smaller than the Sun called Kepler-138 according to this communication from NASA.

Although the presence of water on these two exoplanets Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d has not been officially detected, scientists are almost certain of this presence: after studying the mass and size of these two planets. planetsthe researchers came to the conclusion that approximately 50% of their volume should be ” They are made of materials that are lighter than rock but heavier than hydrogen or helium “.

And the most correct article in this case, according to the NASAis the water. “We used to think that planets a little larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like enlarged versions of Earth.” explains Bjorn Beneke, co-author of the study and professor of astrophysics at the University of Montreal. “However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are very different in nature and that most of their total volume probably consists of water.”

One discovery leads to another

If researchers have studied this area, it is no coincidence. This planetary system consists of three planets orbiting Kepler-138 and located in the field of view Container NASA Kepler. It is a space telescope designed by the US Agency for the Discovery of Exoplanets. Thanks to this, the outer planets of the Kepler system were not unknown to researchers.

But the presence of water on two of them is a revelation. And it doesn’t stop there, as new data from both telescopes shows a possible fourth planet in this system. “As our instruments and technologies become sensitive enough to find and study planets farther from their stars, we may start to find more of these watery worlds.”states the co-author of the study.

And this new planet, already baptized Kepler-138e, may be full of surprises. Because unlike Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d, it will be located in the so-called “habitable” zone according to data collected by Hubble and Spitzer. In other words, the habitable zone simply means that life is more likely to thrive through temperatures where water can be liquid. Space telescopes haven’t finished surprising us.

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