NASA’s Hubble finds first organic molecule on exoplanet

William Atkins
Sunday, 16 March 2008 21:45

Science - Space

NASA announced that U.S. and U.K. astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered the first organic molecule (specifically, methane) in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet.             

On Friday, March 14, 2008, NASA officials reported the first-ever detection of methane (chemical symbol: CH₄) on a planet that is orbiting a star other than the Sun, what scientists call an exosolar planet, or simply an exoplanet.

U.S. astronomers Mark R. Swain and Gautam Vasisht, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, United States), and U.K. astronomer Giovanna Tinetti, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University College (London, United Kingdom) used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the giant planet HD 189733b.

The astronomers state in their soon-to-be published paper in the journal Nature, “Here we report on a near-infrared transmission spectrum of the planet HD 189733b showing the presence of methane.”

They state, “… we can unambiguously determine CH₄ is present.” [Arxiv]

The exoplanet is a bit more massive than the planet Jupiter and about 15% larger than Jupiter. HD 189733b is approximately 63 light years from Earth. 

NASA has already reported that the temperature of the exoplanet is too hot to support Earth life. Gas giant planet HD 189744b, a "hot Jupiter" planet, orbits very close to its yellow dwarf star, HD 189733 A, about ten times closer than what Mercury orbits the Sun. It has an orbit of about 2.2 Earth-days. The exoplanet has an atmospheric temperature of about 1260 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius).

This is an important discovery in astronomy. Find out why NASA and astronomers are excited about this discovery. Please read on.