美国航空航天局的哈勃太空望远镜首次在我们的太阳系外行星大气中探测到氧和碳的存在。天文学家警告说,这些氧是自然存在的,不是这个气态的炽热星球上任何种类的生命产生的。然而,这一证实是予人希望的:数光年外行星大气的化学成分可以测量出来。这一发现也为来日发现太阳系外行星生命的大气生物标志开了路。这颗太阳系外行星编号为 HD209458b,围绕一颗离地球150光年的恒星旋转,氧和碳正从这颗巨大的气态行星喷薄 NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope first detected the presence of oxygen and carbon in the atmosphere of our extrasolar planets. Astronomers warn that this oxygen is naturally present, not from any kind of life on this gaseous, hot planet. However, this confirmation is promising: the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere can be measured in light years. This discovery also opened the way for the discovery of atmospheric biomarkers for the life of the planets outside the solar system. This exoplanet planet, HD209458b, orbits a star 150 light years from Earth. Oxygen and carbon are being sprayed from this giant gaseous planet.