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Basic life chemistry found on 2nd planet
The researchers say although the planet is not habitable, it has the same chemistry that, if found on a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of life.
"It's the second planet outside our solar system in which water, methane and carbon dioxide have been found, which are potentially important for biological processes in habitable planets," said researcher Mark Swain of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Detecting organic compounds in two exoplanets now raises the possibility that it will become commonplace to find planets with molecules that may be tied to life."
Swain and colleagues said they used data from both the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes to study the planet HD 209458b, a hot, gaseous giant planet bigger than Jupiter that orbits a sun-like star about 150 light years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.
The new finding follows their breakthrough discovery in December of carbon dioxide around another hot, Jupiter-size planet.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International
This news arrived on: 10/20/2009
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