According to a BBC report, the space agency’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a molecule called dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, on a distant planet, which on Earth can only be produced by life. “Most of the Earth’s atmosphere comes from phytoplankton in the marine environment,” Cambridge University professor Nikku Madhusudhan, who led the study, told the channel.
According to the report, this discovery marks the first time that astronomers have detected a possible DMS on a planet orbiting a distant star. Along with the discovery of DMS, NASA researchers say they also detected methane and CO2 in the planet’s atmosphere. This is a sign that the planet may have an ocean of water. The planet, called K2-18b, is located about 120 light years from Earth and is almost nine times its size. The distant planet, the agency noted, meets all the criteria that researchers typically consider when assessing whether it can support life, including its temperature, the presence of carbon and potentially liquid water.
More research will be needed, he said, and he feels “a responsibility to get it right if we make such a big claim.” The James Webb Space Telescope evaluates distant planets by analyzing the light passing through their atmosphere that contains the chemical signatures of molecules. NASA’s Hubble Telescope initially detected the presence of water vapor on K2-18b, which led to the Webb Telescope’s study of the planet.
