1 00:00:00,802 --> 00:00:04,969 The NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made the first detection ever 2 00:00:05,375 --> 00:00:08,462 of an organic molecule in a planet orbiting another star. 3 00:00:09,216 --> 00:00:13,809 This breakthrough is an important step in eventually identifying signs of life 4 00:00:13,810 --> 00:00:16,238 on a planet outside the Solar System. 5 00:00:35,333 --> 00:00:37,075 This is the Hubblecast. 6 00:00:37,076 --> 00:00:40,435 News and images from the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope 7 00:00:40,972 --> 00:00:44,575 Travelling through time and space with our host Dr. J 8 00:00:44,630 --> 00:00:47,924 EPISODE 14: Hubble finds first organic molecule on extrasolar planet. a.k.a Dr. Joe Liske. 9 00:00:47,925 --> 00:00:50,083 Hello and welcome to the Hubblecast. 10 00:00:50,084 --> 00:00:53,055 In episode 12 we reported on the discovery 11 00:00:53,056 --> 00:00:58,766 of hazes and a red sunset on the extrasolar planet HD 189733b 12 00:00:59,041 --> 00:01:04,250 Now an entirely new set of remarkable Hubble observations of the same planet 13 00:01:04,285 --> 00:01:08,256 have shown that its atmosphere also contains lots of methane. 14 00:01:09,113 --> 00:01:12,265 Now methane is one of the main constituents of natural gas 15 00:01:12,300 --> 00:01:16,403 and this is the first time that an organic molecule has been found on a planet 16 00:01:16,438 --> 00:01:19,118 outside of our own Solar System. 17 00:01:23,324 --> 00:01:28,819 HD 189733b is located 63 light years away 18 00:01:28,855 --> 00:01:32,217 in the constellation of Vulpecula, the Little Fox. 19 00:01:32,999 --> 00:01:38,209 This planet is so massive and so hot it's considered to be an unlikely host for life. 20 00:01:38,826 --> 00:01:44,374 It is a 'hot Jupiter' type extrasolar planet and it's so close to its parent star 21 00:01:44,375 --> 00:01:48,278 that it only takes just over two days to complete an orbit. 22 00:01:48,583 --> 00:01:53,184 The discovery comes after extensive observations made in May 2007 23 00:01:53,185 --> 00:01:57,554 with Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrometer. 24 00:01:58,175 --> 00:02:01,906 It also confirms the existence of water molecules in the planet's atmosphere 25 00:02:01,907 --> 00:02:07,212 a discovery made originally by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in 2007. 26 00:02:09,887 --> 00:02:14,858 Under the right circumstances, methane can play a key role in pre-biotic chemistry, 27 00:02:14,859 --> 00:02:18,873 that is, in the chemical reactions that are necessary to form life as we know it. 28 00:02:19,605 --> 00:02:23,266 On Earth, methane, which consists of hydrogen and carbon 29 00:02:23,301 --> 00:02:25,946 can be produced by lots of different things. 30 00:02:25,947 --> 00:02:28,964 From man-made sources such as waste land fields 31 00:02:29,018 --> 00:02:32,495 or as a by-product of energy generation, to natural sources 32 00:02:32,622 --> 00:02:37,756 such as termites, the oceans, wetlands environments, as well as livestock. 33 00:02:42,336 --> 00:02:45,502 But the temperature in the atmosphere of this gaseous planet 34 00:02:45,503 --> 00:02:50,181 is a scorching 900 degrees Celsius, and so it's absolutely impossible 35 00:02:50,216 --> 00:02:52,412 that life as we know it can exist here. 36 00:02:53,146 --> 00:02:56,780 So, in other words it's pretty unlikely that there are cows on this planet. 37 00:02:56,990 --> 00:03:01,504 Instead, the methane is probably produced by some complex chemical process 38 00:03:01,559 --> 00:03:04,486 in the atmosphere that we don't yet fully understand. 39 00:03:06,711 --> 00:03:08,544 The new measurements are an important step 40 00:03:08,630 --> 00:03:11,308 towards our ultimate goal of determining the conditions 41 00:03:11,432 --> 00:03:15,348 such as temperature, pressure, winds, clouds 42 00:03:15,412 --> 00:03:18,732 and the chemistry on planets where life could exist. 43 00:03:19,740 --> 00:03:23,330 It's the lucky alignment between Earth, the extrasolar planet 44 00:03:23,380 --> 00:03:25,941 and its parent star that makes this work possible. 45 00:03:26,759 --> 00:03:30,752 When the planet moves in front of its star as seen from Earth 46 00:03:30,753 --> 00:03:33,244 then some small fraction of the light from the star 47 00:03:33,245 --> 00:03:37,683 has to pass through the atmosphere of the planet before being captured by Hubble. 48 00:03:38,204 --> 00:03:41,392 In this way, the chemicals in the atmosphere of the planet 49 00:03:41,455 --> 00:03:44,022 can stamp a unique fingerprint onto the light. 50 00:03:44,023 --> 00:03:47,931 And astronomers can then see these fingerprints in the spectrum of the star. 51 00:03:51,013 --> 00:03:55,153 By studying the thousands upon thousands of 'fingerprints' in the stellar spectrum 52 00:03:55,154 --> 00:03:58,279 left by different chemicals in the planet's atmosphere 53 00:03:58,725 --> 00:04:01,209 Hubble astronomers can work out its composition. 54 00:04:01,834 --> 00:04:04,648 The discovery of methane was a surprise to many. 55 00:04:05,078 --> 00:04:06,345 Astronomers are also intrigued 56 00:04:06,375 --> 00:04:09,562 by the amount of methane detected in the planet's atmosphere, 57 00:04:09,563 --> 00:04:12,407 much larger than any theoretical predictions. 58 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:17,235 The ultimate goal of studies like these is to identify pre-biotic molecules 59 00:04:17,326 --> 00:04:21,367 in the atmospheres of planets in the 'habitable zone' around other stars, 60 00:04:21,368 --> 00:04:23,933 that is in the zone where the temperatures are just right 61 00:04:23,987 --> 00:04:27,970 so that water can be liquid and doesn't freeze or evaporate away. 62 00:04:28,104 --> 00:04:30,199 Who knows what else we will find? 63 00:04:32,623 --> 00:04:35,427 This is Dr. J signing off for the Hubblecast. 64 00:04:35,428 --> 00:04:39,702 Once again, nature has surprised us beyond our wildest imagination... 65 00:04:41,447 --> 00:04:43,447 Hubblecast is produced by ESA / Hubble 66 00:04:43,448 --> 00:04:46,149 at the European Southern Observatory in Germany. 67 00:04:46,623 --> 00:04:48,623 The Hubble mission is a project of international cooperation 68 00:04:48,624 --> 00:04:50,624 between NASA and the European Space Agency.