dr-becky 7 months ago
astrophysicist #Space and Time

Did JWST find a Marker of Life in an Exoplanet Atmosphere?

There’s been a big claim of a marker of life, known as a biosignature, found using JWST in the atmosphere of an exoplanet known as K2-18b.

The data also confirmed this planet was a “Hycean” world, a planet with a liquid water ocean surrounded by a hydrogen dominated atmosphere.


The biosignature that’s claimed to have been found is dimethyl sulphide, a molecule that on Earth is mostly produced by phytoplankton in the ocean.


But how strong actually is the evidence for this claimed detection of dimethyl sulphide?


Dr Becky Smethurst
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