Oceans and Signs of Life found on another Planet

An illustration of what exoplanet K2-18 b may look like. (NASA; ESA; CSA; Joseph Olmsted/STScI)

Over the last few years, scientists have discovered water on several exoplanets. Recently, however, through the use of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists at NASA have found more than just water on one such exoplanet. The scientists discovered signatures of dimethyl sulfide on the exoplanet, a molecule produced only by life on Earth. This exoplanet is only 120 light years from Earth and has a mass over 8 times that of our world. The exoplanet is called K2-18 b, and what makes this exoplanet even more interesting is it resides within the goldilocks zone, or the area of habitability around the star it orbits. Its hydrogen rich atmosphere contains an abundance of Carbon Dioxide and Methane, but also lacks ammonia. This has led them to believe that below the atmosphere, there may be oceans, and these oceans could be similar to the habitable oceans found on Earth. Imagine oceans with liquid water, similar to ours in temperature and pressure, and receiving safe energy from their sun. It seems to be a promising set of ingredients for life as we know it!