ASTRONOMERS are getting their first look at the atmosphere of a planet beyond
the Solar System. They have detected sodium atoms in the atmosphere of a planet
orbiting a Sun-like star 150 light years away.
The composition of a planet’s atmosphere is one clue to whether it might
harbour life: finding oxygen, carbon dioxide and water would be a clear sign
that it did. To date, astronomers have found 76 planets orbiting other suns, but
they are too faint to see directly with today’s telescopes and it hasn’t been
possible to detect their atmospheres.
The new discovery is the first…
