“Mysticals, prepare for a travel to a new Earth!” announced Orak, standing next to his Tempus Machine with his cape flying high.
“A new Earth? What do you mean, Orak?” asked Scorch.
Orak explained, “The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has found a planet where humans might be able to live. Scientists observed from JWST’s information that the K2-18b exoplanet has an enormous amount of carbon dioxide and methane.
It also has a small amount of ammonia. This opens up a huge possibility that there may be an ocean below the hydrogen-rich atmosphere of K2-18b.”
“Slow down, Orak! I don’t understand many complex words that you said. First of all, what is the James Webb Space Telescope? What is K2-18b? What is an exoplanet?” Scorch threw rapid-fire questions at Orak.
“Let me explain everything to you, Scorchie,” began Orak, “The James Webb Space Telescope or JWST was developed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
JWST is a space telescope that orbits the sun at a distance of a million miles away from the Earth. Its function is to study planets outside the solar system that are called exoplanets.
NASA discovered an exoplanet called K2-18b in 2015. K2-18b is 120 light years away from Earth. It is almost nine times bigger than Earth.”
Felix remembered and said, “I remember about a lightyear. It is the distance that light travels in one year. One light year is 6 trillion miles (6 followed by 12 zeros).”
“Impressive, Felix!” praised Orak, “This time you get to travel next to me in the Tempus Machine. Another interesting discovery was when JWST detected a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in that exoplanet.
DMS is widely found on the surface of seawater. A microscopic organism called phytoplankton that lives in the sea surfaces produces DMS and cleans the atmosphere.”
“Interesting! Let’s hop on Orak’s Tempus Machine and visit this exoplanet,” said Scorch.