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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                 2023 September 20   
         An artist's illustration pictures a cloudy red planet orbiting a   
          distant red star. Near the exoplanet is a moon. Please see the   
                    explanation for more detailed information.   
      
                      Methane Discovered on Distant Exoplanet   
        Illustration Credit: Ahmad Jabakenji (ASU Lebanon, North Star Space   
                         Art); Data: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST   
      
      Explanation: Where else might life exist? One of humanity's great   
      outstanding questions, locating planets where extrasolar life might   
      survive took a step forward in 2019 with the discovery of a significant   
      amount of water vapor in the atmosphere of distant exoplanet K2-18b.   
      The planet and its parent star, K2-18, lie about 124 light years away   
      toward the constellation of the Lion (Leo). The exoplanet is   
      significantly larger and more massive than our Earth, but orbits in the   
      habitable zone of its home star. K2-18, although more red than our Sun,   
      shines in K2-18b's sky with a brightness similar to the Sun in Earth's   
      sky. The 2019 discovery of atmospheric water was made in data from   
      three space telescopes: Hubble, Spitzer, and Kepler, by noting the   
      absorption of water-vapor colors when the planet moved in front of the   
      star. Now in 2023, further observations by the Webb Space Telescope in   
      infrared light have uncovered evidence of other life-indicating   
      molecules -- including methane. The featured illustration imagines   
      exoplanet K2-18b on the far right orbited by a moon (center), which   
      together orbit a red dwarf star depicted on the lower left.   
      
                           Tomorrow's picture: space tag   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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