Detecting water in other solar systems

Writer Anuradha Herath’s story about a new technique that is being developed to detect water in the protoplanetary disks of other solar systems appeared on Astrobiology Magazine’s web site Feb. 18 and also on Space.com Feb. 24. The story revolves around a study published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Astrobiology by Melissa Morris, a 2009 SESE doctoral graduate, and associate professor Steven Desch.

In the paper, Morris and Desch describe modeling of the infrared spectroscopy of dust surrounding young stars in our Galaxy, to determine whether it is possible to detect the presence of hydrous minerals called phyllosilicates. One of the simplest examples of phyllosilicates is clay minerals; water is an important part of their chemical structure.

According to lead author Morris, a visiting professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Materials Science at Missouri State University and an affiliate of Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, "If you find phyllosilicates, you have most likely found liquid water. The objective was to try to determine whether we could actually detect these wonderful signatures of hydrated minerals almost always produced by the interaction of liquid water with rock."

Morris and her co-author Desch claim that unique features indicative of phyllosilicates in the mid-infrared spectra should make it possible to detect those minerals in protoplanetary disks. She says “the outcome of this study shows only that, based on the computer models, it should be possible to detect the presence of phyllosilicates in protoplanetary disks. It is only the first step in the detection of water in other solar systems.”

They plan to use data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy to look for these features in the spectra from dust around young stars.