News Space

Crushed space rocks hint at exoplanets’ early atmospheric makeup

Water-rich steam might envelop the far-flung planets, experiments suggest

Kepler-186f

Astronomers want to know what the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets like Kepler-186f, shown in this artist’s impression, are made of. Some scientists are burning meteorites to figure that out.

NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

Burning bits of ground-up meteorites may tell scientists what exoplanets’ early atmospheres are made of.