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Molecular Basis for Life Found on Extrasolar Planet
DarkProphet writes "NASA scientists have discovered the first evidence of organic molecules on an extrasolar planet. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, they detected trace amounts of methane on a swirling gas giant about 63 light-years from our own planet. Being a gas giant, there's almost no chance this discovery represents extrasolar life. A unique find, just the same. 'HD 189733b, a so-called "hot Jupiter," located 63 light years away, has proven a boon for scientists studying exoplanets. Its large size and proximity to its star mean that it dims the star's light more than any other known exoplanet. Combine that with its home star's high brightness, and scientists find that the system creates the best viewing conditions of any known extrasolar system. At different wavelengths, every atom and molecule has its own telltale footprint, so scientists can convert what are known as absorption spectra into the chemical composition of the object they're looking at.'"
Someone was bound to find something eventually. If the universe is as big as we seem to think it is, it was bound to happen eventually. Who knows, maybe some of those religious guys might be right. Too bad it would simply be accidental ;)
just beam a high power radio signal that way and if your lucky in 124 years you might get a 'hello there' back.
Actually it would be pretty cool to establish contact with an alien civilization even if there is a 250 year lag. Just ask a question and your great-great-great-grandchildren might get an answer, "No we haven't developed hyperlightspeed propulsion yet either".
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
they found methane which is quite common in our solar system, its not that they found methane being present thats is the breakthrough here, its the fact that they have fine enough instruments to measure a planet ~60 light years away, this absolutely amazing! fairplay!!
the planet in question is bigger than Jupiter and closer to its sun than mercury, so its way too hot for any life "as we know it" to survive
We just went over this exact occurrence just a month ago. Go ahead with the flatulence jokes all the same though, it would be a break of tradition if you didn't.
I got a catholic block.
Here's a quote from one of the workers:
HCG 50a = 2MASX J11170638+5455016
11h17m06.4s +54d55m02s
The ability to resolve the spectral lines is a great advance. The hype is getting old. We know that small "organic" molecules are not hard to come by; we expect to find them everywhere we look, yet the press goes ape whenever we find them. Worse, since we have no idea what "life" is, it seems a bit odd to go crazy over molecules that are somewhat related to our kind of "life".
Well, it's cool that we can find proof of any kind of molecules on extrasolar planets, but I'm still waiting for the discovery of O2 on an extra solar planet, that will be the discovery of the century. Methane is not so cool.
I was under the impression that methane was fairly common in the Universe. For example, Uranus is full of methane.
Seriously though, I'd like to know exactly what makes life on gas giants so unlikely. You've got all sorts of chemicals swirling around, different temperatures at different depths, and frequent capture of diverse debris. We've hardly explored the interiors of the gas giants right here in our own system, so what's the basis for ruling out life on gas giants 60 ly away?
I'm sure there's good science involved, I'm just curious to know what it is.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
It's funny, you were modded troll even though what you said is both true and relevant. We really need to rename that planet.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Being a gas giant, there's almost no chance this discovery represents extrasolar life
considering how regularly we find life in places our usual view of where life can survive don't work, like around geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, or inside solid rock 2 miles below the surface, I find this comment incredibly narrow-minded. That gas giant is about on keel with the ocean here on earth, and last I checked, life here began in the seas.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
That we got the only Monolith.
46. The Hobo smiles, his eyes glaze over, and he burps. "Beware the man who has lived longer than the Wasteland."
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
More relevant here is the fact that the upper limit of stability of any carbon-based macromolecule or polymer is about 400 Celsius, even in "inert" atmospheres due to C-H bonds breaking. Though this does not rule out other chemistries, the news here is about carbon-based life.