Researchers have detected the first signs of proof that a planet outside of our solar system is capable of sustaining life. The evidence was obtained by the Hubble Space telescope, and captured what appears to be methane on a planet residing in another solar system.

HD 189733b is the name of the planet where the methane has been detected. While the planet might not have a sexy name, it is in the constellation Vulpecula which definitely sounds like something from Star Trek.

To most people, the detection of methane might not sound too exciting. But what might not be known is it’s one of the key components of sustaining life on Earth. Methane is one of the ingredients necessary for chemical reactions to occur that make living possible. It was also discovered that HD 189733b was housing water as well, reported by Mark Swain, a NASA specialist, “With this observation there is no question whether there is water or not - water is present”

So if HD 189733b has water, and methane, two of the biggest components of sustaining human-like life, then could there possibly be aliens living on it? The collective answer is “no”, atleast for life as we know it. The reason being is that, although HD 189733b has water and methane, it is roughly the size of Jupiter and is closer to its’ sun than Mercury is here. HD 189733b rests at a sweltering 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit. So if there’s life, they either have alot of sunscreen or would feel right at home in your oven.

Another big breakthrough of the discovery of methane on HD 189733b, is not the discovery itself, but the fact we were able to discover it. With Hubble’s ability to detect methane, it’s proof that the telescope and future telescopes could detect life providing elements on other planets.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 7:13 am and is filed under Future Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.