Why Gas Giant Planets Are A Key To Finding Life Beyond Our Solar System

These gas giants are the easiest to observe; they have wonderfully extended atmospheres, so we can get information from each part of these gas giants’ atmospheres, said Helling. This helps us to either prove that our models are correct, or if not, to improve them, she said. These are the first steps before we really can understand extraterrestrial rocky planets, said Helling.