---
title: "Scientists’ New Trick Can Tell if an Exoplanet Has an Atmosphere"
description: "Astronomers developed a new trick that will help them determine whether so-called Earth-like exoplanets actually have their own atmospheres."
date: "2019-12-04"
modified: "2019-12-04"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-exoplanet-atmosphere"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Exoplanets"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists’ New Trick Can Tell if an Exoplanet Has an Atmosphere

![Astronomers developed a new trick that will help them determine whether so-called Earth-like exoplanets actually have their own atmospheres.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/scientists-exoplanet-atmosphere-orbit.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Actually Earth-like

Astronomers are using a new trick to determine whether [Earth-like exoplanets](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/most-earth-like-exoplanet>) outside our solar system have atmospheres or not.

The technique basically comes down to measuring the light given off by a planet right before it orbits around behind its host star, [according to *Gizmodo*](<https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-have-a-new-way-to-spot-earth-like-worlds-wi-1840169655>). By comparing those measurements to the light an exoplanet gives off after it re-emerges, scientists can determine whether it's absorbed any of the light, likely thanks to the presence of an atmosphere.

## Habitable Zone

Typically, when scientists say that an exoplanet resides in a habitable zone, they mean that it orbits within the range of distances from its host star that any water on its surface wouldn't immediately boil away or freeze.

But there's a lot more that a world needs before it can be considered habitable. This new trick lets scientists finally start to determine which exoplanets actually fit the bill.

"We've never characterized the atmospheres of a rocky planet other than those in our solar system," University of Maryland astronomer Eliza Kempton told *Gizmodo*. "This is the first major stepping stone towards characterizing rocky planets in the habitable zone."

**READ MORE:** [Astronomers Have a New Way to Spot Earth-Like Worlds With Atmospheres](<https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-have-a-new-way-to-spot-earth-like-worlds-wi-1840169655>) \[*Gizmodo*\]

**More on exoplanets:** *[Scientists Just Discovered the Second-Closest Exoplanet to Earth](<https://futurism.com/scientists-just-discovered-the-second-closest-exoplanet-to-earth>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)