K2-18b: Does the Planet Support Life?

Scientists have found signatures of water vapour in the atmosphere of K2-18b. That makes it the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System that is known to have both water and temperatures that could support life.

Key Features

• K2-18b’s size and surface gravity are much larger than Earth’s. Its radiation environment, too, maybe hostile.
• It orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18, which is about 110 light-years from Earth in the Leo constellation.
• It is eight times the mass of Earth. It was discovered in 2015 by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft.
• It resides in a habitable zone or Goldilocks zone, the ....