Exoplanet atmosphere detected from Earth

[Barb]

Article:

PARIS (AFP) – Two separate teams of scientists reported Wednesday the first-ever detection from Earth of the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system.

Taken together, the studies open a new frontier in the study of exoplanets, hard-to-detect celestial bodies circling stars beyond our own solar system.

Barely 300 exoplanets -- some of which may have conditions similar to those that gave rise to life on Earth -- have been identified so far, though astronomers assume that far more are waiting to be discovered.

Up to now, virtually everything known about the atmosphere of exoplanets has come from data collected by the space-based Spitzer infrared telescope.

But Spitzer will soon run out of the cryogens needed to keep its instruments cool, severely limiting its capabilities.

One team spotted a massive planet many times the size of Earth named OGLE-TR-56b, a so-called "hot Jupiter."

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[Takoto]

Does this mean there really could be life on other planets, even if it is a planet outside out solar system?

 

[Jeff]

It's certainly possible. The sun isn't the only star capable of supporting life on one or more of its planets.

 

[Shinx3000]

I'd say the chances of life on one of those planets is quite possible. The chances of Earth having the only living thing on it is very slim IMO. Just because we have not found any actual life yet, does not mean anything. There are thousands of galaxies out there, who knows what is in other ones we'll never see, in our lifetime anyway