The James Webb Space Telescope of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has identified water vapor surrounding a rocky exoplanet orbiting a star 26 light-years from Earth.
According to CNN, astronomers are now trying to determine whether the water vapor indicates the presence of an atmosphere surrounding a rocky exoplanet, which would be the first-known occurrence of its kind.
While water vapor has previously been detected on gaseous exoplanets, scientists have yet to discover an atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet, and if they succeed it would be a historic event.
Kevin Stevenson, principal investigator on the Webb observing program at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, who is co-author of a study on the telescope’s findings, said that “Water vapor in an atmosphere on a hot rocky planet would represent a major breakthrough for exoplanet science. But we must be careful and make sure that the star is not the culprit,” said study co-author.
The scientist in charge could find additional details about the source of the mysterious water vapor after future observations of the nearby star system by using different tools and instruments.
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