extraterrestrial life

Researchers at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory report that the Hubble Space Telescope has found CO2 on a planet outside our solar system. HD 189733b is unlikely to actually harbor extraterrestrial life, being a Jovian class planet with a surface temperature of 1,292 degrees F. But the successful detection bodes well for our search for extraterrestrial life.

Although Hubble was originally designed to observe distant stars and galaxies, researcher Mark Swain discovered that he could use its infrared imaging and multi-object spectrometer to identify gases. Using what is called the "secondary eclipse method," Swain waits for the target planet to be eclipsed by its parent star, and compares the light spectra before and after the eclipse.

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