The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a molecule on a distant planet which, on this planet, is only produced by life.
The molecule is dimethyl sulphide (DMS), and on Earth is mostly produced by plankton.
The molecule was observed on a planet 120 light years away from Earth, called K2-18b. Methane and CO2 have also been detected in the planet’s atmosphere (which is believed to be primarily made up of hydrogen) and this could mean that there is water on the planet, perhaps an ocean.
The JWST can determine what gases are present on distant planets by analysing the light that passes through these planets’ atmospheres.
K2-18b orbits a red dwarf star. The planet is nine times the size of Earth and is classified as a ‘mini-Neptune’.
However, scientists who made the discovery urged caution and said that more testing was necessary before any conclusions could be drawn.
Image by Alan Dobson from Pixabay