How exoplanet hunters find alien worlds hundreds of light-years away and figure out if they have water
Business InsiderJan 12, 2023
On Wednesday, NASA announced its Webb telescope has identified its first exoplanet — any planet outside our solar system — 41 light-years away called LHS 475 b, which is almost exactly the size of Earth with 99% of our planet's diameter.
According to NASA headquarters Astrophysics Division director Mark Clampin, the observation of the planet, located in the Octans constellation, "open[s] the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres."
Research like this not only provides the potential for discovering alien life on other planets but also for finding water sources beyond what we have on Earth. Furthermore, exoplanets light-years away aren't the only planets with this potential, as scientists have discovered water in our own solar system on Jupiter. These discoveries are tremendous breakthroughs in the study of extraterrestrial life and should be continued.
Though findings like these are extraordinary and should be continued, governments around the world should ensure they're spending money on exploring our own planet and lifting up our own human race at the same time. Private companies such as SpaceX should also be at the forefront of these explorations to further ensure that tax dollars are spent wisely.
There's a 60% chance that we will detect an exoplanet atmosphere with greater than 5% oxygen atmosphere by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.