Detection of oxygen on a planet outside our Solar System

The first direct detection of oxygen and carbon in the atmosphere of a planet outside our Solar System, has been made using the Hubble Telescope. Astronomers say the planet, as they call HD 209458b, orbits a yellow, Sun-like star and is situated 150 light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus (reported by Dr David Whitehouse, BBC News Online science editor, Tuesday, 27 January, 2004).

It is a gas-giant world like Jupiter and scientists can see that it is being slowly destroyed by its parent star. An international team has sent its results to the Astrophysical Journal. They were carried out by astronomers from the University of Arizona and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US; York University in Canada; and the Paris Observatory and the Geneva Observatory in Europe.

It`s sound like a fantasy world, and I am sure many wonder: could it be a break trough in the astronomic work?

The incredible planet was first identified in 1999 because of its slight gravitational tug on its parent star. It is estimated to be 70% of the mass of Jupiter, or 220 times more massive than Earth. Astronomers discovered later that the tilt of the planet's orbit means it passes in front of the star,as viewed from Earth, making it very rare among the approximately 120 extrasolar planets found to date.

The close proximity to its parent star heats the planet's atmosphere to 1,100 deg Celsius (2,000 deg Fahrenheit), turning it into what astronomers call a "hot Jupiter". According to BBC, astronomers are planning to find out more about the planet. They intend to search for evidence of water vapour as well as heavy metals in its atmosphere. But what about life? Could this planet really be a source for life, and could there be similar planets elsewhere in our huge universe? Time will show!

Stein Morten Lund, 3 February 2004

Additional information

Read more about the planet and atmosphere around it on BBC`s website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3432629.stm