NASA Discovers Evidence of ‘Water Worlds’ in Deep Space

There are trillions of planets out there. Some almost certainly contain oceans. Astronomers have found well over 5,000 exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, and suspect there are likely over a trillion exoplanets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. Now, scientists have spotted two water worlds they think could be teeming with water. In this Slogging thread, our community discussed NASA's mind-blowing discovery of Water Worlds in Deep Space. This Slogging thread by Valentine Enedah, Mónica Freitas, Sara Pinto and Marco Sullivan occurred in slogging's official #space channel, and has been edited for readability. Valentine Enedah Dec 20, 2022, 1:41 PM NASA Discovers an Evidence of ‘Water Worlds’ in Deep Space. https://mashable.com/article/nasa-water-world-discovered-hubble-exoplanet Valentine Enedah Dec 20, 2022, 2:25 PM The planets are called Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d, named after NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, which identified thousands of exoplanets and revolutionized our grasp of what lies beyond our solar system, in the deep cosmos. These two water worlds inhabit a solar system 218 light-years away and are "unlike any planets in our Solar System," noted the European Space Agency. Valentine Enedah Dec 20, 2022, 4:03 PM The Kepler telescope found these planets to be over three times the size of Earth, but much less massive, meaning they are considerably less dense. Until now, planets a little larger than Earth appear to be rocky worlds aka super-Earths. Yet Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d more resemble the ice-covered moons in our solar system, like Jupiter Europa and Saturn Enceladus a world that shoots plumes of icy particles into space. Valentine Enedah Dec 20, 2022, 4:10 PM The interior of Earth, on left, and the supposed water world Kepler-138d, on right. Credit: Benoit Gougeon / University Of Montreal. Importantly, these latest Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d observations did not directly identify water on the planets. But simulations of what these worlds are like based on their mass, size, and other factors suggest they are composed of materials that are lighter than rock but heavier than hydrogen or helium, the European Space Agency explains. Valentine Enedah Dec 20, 2022, 4:11 PM Valentine Enedah Dec 20, 2022, 4:22 PM This is really amazing! There are so many discoveries in the field of Astronomy. What do you think? Mónica Freitas Dec 22, 2022, 4:16 PM I'm not sure if we'll ever get to see these planets with our own 2 eyes - I probably won't - but it's a fascinating discovery. I hope we can get more data and achieve a bigger understanding of the outer space. Valentine Enedah Dec 22, 2022, 9:22 PM Mónica Freitas Indeed, the Universe is humongous. There is so much to discover in our lifetime. If you had a chance to visit a new planet, what planet will you visit? Sara Pinto Dec 23, 2022, 5:03 PM Valentine Enedah, this is exciting! There's still so much for us to explore. I wonder if we'll ever be able to visit other planets... Marco Sullivan Dec 23, 2022, 5:47 PM Valentine Enedah This is a great discovery but it's quite sad we are not yet at the point to visit these planets. We will get there with time and on top that,I would love to visit Neptune. Only for the fact that it rains Diamonds over there. :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: 1 Valentine Enedah Dec 25, 2022, 7:03 AM Sara Pinto Actually, I'm looking forward to that. Technology is advancing daily. Once there is a hack for Teleportation, travelling will be so easy. If that works, what planet would you visit? Valentine Enedah Dec 25, 2022, 7:03 AM Marco Sullivan Interesting! I think I would love to be there too. Sara Pinto Dec 26, 2022, 2:41 PM I'd love a hack for that haha, but not sure, maybe Saturn because of its rings, Valentine Enedah Mónica Freitas Dec 27, 2022, 10:19 AM Valentine Enedah assuming I wouldn't die or age... I want to see jupiter's moons and saturn's rings Mónica Freitas Dec 27, 2022, 10:19 AM How about u? Valentine Enedah Dec 27, 2022, 1:26 PM Sara Pinto Saturn is a great choice! Do you know Saturn's rings are made up of small chunks of ice and rock coated with other materials such as dust. 🔥 1 Valentine Enedah Dec 27, 2022, 3:07 PM Mónica Freitas These are nice selections. I would love to visit Mars. There is a lot of prospect with the search for life, understanding the surface and the planet's evolution, and preparing for future human exploration. We need to understand whether life existed elsewhere in the Universe beyond Earth. Mónica Freitas Dec 29, 2022, 11:00 AM I'm sure it did. The universe is too vast for us to be the only world with living breathing species. It's crazy how even though we have all of this technology, we won't have an answer to that question in our lifetime. Mars is a great bet too Valentine Enedah Dec 29, 2022, 3:18 PM Mónica Freitas Wow, so you believe in the existence of Extraterrestrial life? I used to think I was Paranoid for believing in that. Mónica Freitas Jan 5, 2023, 4:38 PM Of course, it's only logical to think similar evolution processes occurred elsewhere. I don't think we're that special or "chosen by god" Valentine Enedah Jan 6, 2023, 9:43 AM Mónica Freitas Interesting perpective! One thing that backs up your perspective is that there are so many galaxies apart from ours and are they empty? I guess not.