Fingerprints of metals and possible traces of water found in low-density exoplanet. Pictured, an artist's conception depicting the Kepler-10 star system, located about 560 light-years away near the Cygnus and Lyra constellations.

An international team of astronomers detected "fingerprints" of metals in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time as well as possible signs of water, a find that could bolster the search for life beyond Earth.

Sitting 332 light years away from Earth, WASP-127b is one of the least dense gas giant exoplanets ever discovered, a feature which makes it unique among thousands of extra-solar worlds cataloged to date. Though it’s nearly one and a half times bigger than Jupiter, our Solar System’s largest planet, the mass of the alien world is not even half of what Jupiter has on offer.

More importantly, the exoplanet takes a little over four days to complete a single orbit of its host star and is heated to temperatures of up to 1,127 degrees Celsius (2060.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The characteristic makes this world one hell of a place to live, but, despite knowing this since the planet’s discovery in 2016, a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) used it as a subject of study while using the Gran Telescopio Canarias, a reflecting telescope in Spain.

The team observed the atmospheric composition of the exoplanet and detected fingerprints signaling a high concentration of alkali metals, mainly sodium, potassium, and lithium. The discovery, a first on an exoplanet, and some modeling work also helped the team determine that the skies of the planet are partly clear.

“The detection of a trace element such as lithium in a planetary atmosphere is a major breakthrough and motivates new follow-up observations and detailed theoretical modeling to corroborate the findings,” study co-author Nikku Madhusudhan said in a statement. The team believes the discovery of lithium could provide critical insight into the formation of the planet and the evolution of the WASP-127 system. Even the star of the planet, WASP-127, is rich in lithium, which suggests it could be a red giant, thousands of times bigger than the Sun, or a supernova.

“The particular characteristics of this planet allowed us to perform a detailed study of its rich atmospheric composition,” study’s first author Guo Chen said in the statement.

But that’s not it. Along with traces of metal in the atmosphere, the team also found possible signs of water, which, if confirmed, could mean a major breakthrough in the field of astronomy. “While this detection is not statistically significant, as water features are weak in the visible range, our data indicate that additional observations in the near-infrared should be able to detect it,” co-author Enric Pallé said of the possible discovery of water.

The team adds that further observations from James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s successor to the Hubble, should be able to take a close look at the atmosphere of WASP-127b and reveal more about the low-density gas giant and its characteristics.

The study titled, “The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey IX. Detection of Haze, Na, K, and Li in the super-Neptune WASP-127b,” will be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics and an arXiv preprint is available online.</s>Scientists have identified traces of multiple metals, along with possible signs of water, in one of the least dense exoplanets ever found. The team, from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain used the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) to observe WASP-127b, a giant gaseous planet with partly clear skies and strong signatures of metals in its atmosphere.

WASP-127b has a radius 1.4 times larger than Jupiter but has only 20 per cent of its mass. Such a planet has no analogue in our solar system and is rare even within the thousands of exoplanets discovered to date. It takes just over four days to orbit its parent star and its surface temperature is around 1127 degree Celsius. The observations of WASP-127b reveal the presence of a large concentration of alkali metals in its atmosphere, allowing simultaneous detections of sodium, potassium and lithium for the first time in an exoplanet.

The sodium and potassium absorptions are very broad, which is characteristic of relatively clear atmospheres. According to modelling work done by the researchers, the skies of WASP-127b are approximately 50 per cent clear. “The particular characteristics of this planet allowed us to perform a detailed study of its rich atmospheric composition,” said Guo Chen, a postdoctoral researcher at IAC. “The presence of lithium is important to understand the evolutionary history of the planetary system and could shed light on the mechanisms of planet formation,” said Chen.

The planet’s host star, WASP-127, is also lithium rich, which could point to an AGB star – a bright red giant thousands of times brighter than the Sun – or a supernova having enriched the cloud of material from which this system originated. The researchers also found possible signs of water. “While this detection is not statistically significant, as water features are weak in the visible range, our data indicate that additional observations in the near-infrared should be able to detect it,” said Enric Palle also from IAC. The results demonstrate the potential of ground-based telescopes for the study of planetary atmospheres.

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App</s>WASP-127b is the first exoplanet detected that holds alkali metals which include lithium, sodium and potassium.

A team of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain and the University of Cambridge have published a new study showing that Exoplanet WASP-127b is likely to hold multiple metals in its atmosphere as judged by its ‘fingerprints’, while there is also the distinct possibility that the exoplanet may also harbor water.

Scientists used the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) to determine that this exoplanet features skies that are around 50 percent clear. It was also discovered that while WASP-127b only has around 20 percent of the mass of Jupiter, its radius was still found to be 1.4 times more enormous, as Phys.org report.

There is no planet in our solar system that is comparable to WASP-127b and even amongst other exoplanets, it has been found to be very rare indeed. The length of time this exoplanet takes to complete the orbit around its sun has been measured as being just four days and the temperature on the surface of this gaseous planet is estimated to be a whopping 1400 K (1127° C).

In what marks a first for an exoplanet, the atmosphere of WASP-127b was found to hold the alkali metals of lithium, sodium, and potassium, and the detection of sodium and potassium is an indicator that this exoplanet most likely has a fairly clear atmosphere.

The IAC’s Dr. Guo Chen, who is also the lead author of the new study, confirmed that the presence of lithium may be the key to understanding more about how this particular exoplanet evolved over time.

The host star of this planet, WASP-127, was also found to hold a large amount of lithium, which means that it is highly possible it is an AGB star.

The co-author of the new research, co-author Enric Pallé, observed that detecting the presence of water on this planet will be helped greatly in the future with near-infrared.

The new study on the presence of multiple metals as well as the possible presence of water on Exoplanet WASP-127b has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.</s>WASP-127b is a very unusual exoplanet, and that's what has piqued the interest of astronomers. An exoplanet is simply a planet that resides our Solar System, but what makes 127b interesting is its orbit and its size.

The exoplanet is 1.4 times the size of Jupiter, but only 20 percent dense in comparison to it. It has a surface temperature of 1,127 degrees Celsius, and it takes around four days to orbit its star, WASP-127. Thus making it a giant gas planet.

According to the report in Outer Places, WASP-127b is one of the last places that one would expect to find water, but according to a team of astronomers in the University of Cambridge and the Instituto de Astrofiscica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain, due to the planet being extremely metallic, it is possible that it may contain water.

They were able to analyse this by observing the planet through the 'Gran Telescopio Canaris' in the Canary Islands since the planet has about 50 percent clear skies.

The report also claims that the exoplanet atmosphere is filled with sodium, potassium and lithium. Even the planet's star is full of lithium.

The report further states that researches are "hesitant" of concluding that there is water, but have declared that there are possible signs that the planet may contain water.

The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in 2020 and may help in exploring whatever is hidden under the "clear, metallic skies" of WASP-127b.

Here's a video of the WASP-127b orbiting the star.
A study has been revealed that WASP-127b might have possible traces of water.