Tag Archive for 'Hycean world'

An artist’s impression of the super-Earth exoplanet K2-18b. Image credit: A. Smith / N. Mandhusudhan.

Webb Detects Possible Biosignature Gases in Atmosphere of K2-18b

Apr 17, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide...

LHS 1140b may be a world completely covered in ice (left) similar to Jupiter’s moon Europa or be an ice world with a liquid ocean and a cloudy atmosphere (center). Image credit: B. Gougeon / Université de Montréal.

Habitable Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140b is Probably Snowball or Water World

Jul 9, 2024 by News Staff

LHS 1140b is the second-closest temperate transiting exoplanet to Earth with a temperature low enough to support surface liquid water. LHS 1140b may be...

Rendering of the likely view on a Hycean world. Image credit: Shang-Min Tsai / UCR.

Webb Probably Didn’t Detect Biosignature Gas on K2-18b

May 2, 2024 by News Staff

In 2023, astronomers reported a tentative detection of dimethyl sulfide — which is predominately produced by marine microbes on Earth and regarded...

An artist’s impression of the K2-18 planetary system. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / J. Olmsted, STScI / N. Madhusudhan, University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Detect Carbon Dioxide and Methane in Super-Earth’s Atmosphere

Sep 11, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere of the habitable zone exoplanet...

An artist’s impression of a Hycean planet. Image credit: Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Identify New Class of Exoplanets: Hycean Worlds

Aug 26, 2021 by News Staff

Hycean worlds are composed of water-rich interiors with massive oceans underlying hydrogen-rich atmospheres; with densities between those of rocky super-Earths...