Two Kepler planet water worlds discovered 218 light years away. Read here
Kepler #Kepler
Astronomers have now discovered two exoplanets that are unlike any previous discoveries…why? These exoplanets have been found to be filled with water. Ina first, these two exoplanets have been found to be replete with water. These exoplanets orbit around a red dwarf star and are unique int heir composition.
According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) these exoplanets are located in a planetary system 218 light-years away. They were found in the constellation Lyra.
Astronomers observed exoplanets Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d with Hubble and the retired Spitzer space telescopes and discovered water on them.
The planets, which are about one and a half times the size of the Earth, were discovered along with its host star by Nasa’s Kepler Space Telescope.
Unique factor of two exoplanets
The unique factor of the two exoplanets was that watery liquid makes up a large part of their composition.
Notably, water on these exoplanets wasn’t detected directly. Researchers compared the sizes and masses of the planets to models, conclude that a significant fraction of their volume — up to half of it — should be made of materials that are lighter than rock but heavier than hydrogen or helium.
The most common of these candidate material is water.
Researchers speak
The team, led by PhD student Caroline Piaulet of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) at the University of Montreal, published a detailed study of a planetary system known as Kepler-138 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The researchers maintained that with volumes more than three times that of Earth and masses twice as big, planets C and D have much lower densities than Earth.
“Imagine larger versions of Europa or Enceladus, the water-rich moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn, but brought much closer to their star. Instead of an icy surface, Kepler-138 c and d would harbor large water-vapor envelopes,” explained Piaulet.
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