How can astronomers determine if an exoplanet has water based on Earth’s geological composition? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as a team of researchers led by Cornell University are developing a new catalog for identifying past or present water on exoplanets by examining Earth processes and using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to search for these signatures on exoplanets throughout the cosmos. This study holds the potential to help researchers develop more sophisticated methods in finding water on exoplanets, which could help scientists identify signs of life beyond Earth, as well.
For the study, the researchers analyzed 15 samples of basalt to better understand their mineralogical compositions, formation processes, and spectral signatures. Basalt is a volcanic rock that forms from rapid cooling of lava and is the most common type of rock found in Earth’s crust, along with being prevalent on other planetary bodies, including the Moon and Mars. Since most of the Earth’s ocean floors are made of basalt, this provides a unique opportunity for researchers to better understand how water might form in the presence of basalt.
“When the Martian mantle melted, it also produced basalts. The moon is mostly basaltic,” said Dr. Esteban Gazel, who is a Charles N. Mellowes Professor in Engineering at Cornell University and a co-author on the study. “We’re testing basaltic materials here on Earth to eventually elucidate the composition of exoplanets through the James Webb Space Telescope data.”
Once the initial analyses were conducted, the researchers then aspired to learn whether JWST’s powerful instruments could detect these spectral signatures on exoplanets with the goal of identifying similar minerals on those worlds. In the end, the researchers determined that JWST’s mid-infrared instrument could potentially identify these same minerals, and specifically water-bearing minerals, on exoplanets throughout the cosmos. The goal is to eventually determine the environmental conditions that the rocks formed, thus gaining greater insight into their water content, which the researchers hope to ascertain with a new catalog they’re developing regarding water-world exoplanets.
How will this new catalog help astronomers identify water-world exoplanets in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Nature Astronomy, ScienceDaily, Cornell Chronicle