by Astronomers announced on Thursday that they had discovered the most promising “indications” of potential life on a planet beyond our solar system, although other scientists expressed skepticism.
In scientific circles, it discussed energetic debates as to whether the planet K2-18b, which is removed in the Leo constellation 124 light years, could be an ocean world that is able to organize microbial life.
With the James WebB World Heritage Telescope, a team of researchers from British-USA discovered signs of two chemicals in the atmosphere of the planet, which have long been regarded as “bisignatures”, which indicates an extraterrestrial lifespan.
On earth, the chemicals dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyldisulfide are only produced by life, mainly microscopic sea algae, which are called phytoplankton.
The researchers emphasized caution and said that further observations were necessary to confirm these results and that they did not announce any final discovery.
According to Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist and senior author of the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the effects could be great.
“What we find out at this point are indications of possible biological activities outside the solar system,” he said at a press conference.
“To be honest, I think this is the next thing we have seen to see a feature that we can attribute to life.”
However, expert experts pointed out on disputes about earlier discoveries on the exoplanet and added that these chemicals could be created by unknown means that has nothing to do with life.
– chemical information –
K2-18B is more than the eight times as large and 2.5 times as large mass and is a rare exoplanet that orbits his star in a habitable or “Goldillocks” zone.
This means that it is neither too hot nor too cold to have liquid water than the most important ingredient for life.
Telescopes observe such distant exoplanets when they cross in front of their star so that astronomers analyze how molecules block the light that streams through their atmosphere.
In 2023, the webb telescope methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18b, the first time that such molecules were detected on an exoplanet on an exoplanet in an habitable zone.
It also recognized weak signals from the chemical DMS and prompted astronomers to re -move Webb a year ago towards Planet, this time with its middle infrarot instrument in order to recognize different wavelengths of light.
They found much greater signs of chemicals, even though they are far below the “five -sig” stockings of statistical significance that scientists are looking for for such discoveries.
Even if the results are confirmed, this would not necessarily mean that the planet is life at home.
Last year, scientists found traces of DMS on a comet, which indicates that it can be produced in a non -organic way.
However, the concentration of chemicals observed on K2-18B seems to be stronger a thousand times than on earth, which strongly indicates a biological origin, said Madhusudhan.
– Are we alone in the universe? – –
K2-18B has long been considered the leading candidate for a “Hycean planet” an ocean world, which is larger than the earth with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
These planets would not be expected to live intelligent foreign life, but tiny microbes that are similar to those in the earth in billions of years ago.
Some research has questioned whether the currently proposed Hycean planets are too close to their stars to support liquid water, including K2-18B, which circle their star every 33 days.
Raymond Pierrehumbert, a professor of planetary physics at the University of Oxford, has carried out separate studies that point out that K2-18B is too hot for life.
If the planet had water, it would be “hellishly hot” and uninhabitable, he said to AFP and added that Oceans from Lava were more plausible.
Sara Seaager, professor of planetary science, asked for patience and pointed out earlier water vapor standards in the atmosphere of K2-18B, which turned out to be another gas.
And in our solar system, Mars, Venus and Mondes like Saturn’s Enceladus “have more chance to be realized than to be realized as a life organizer,” she told AFP.
Madhusudhan estimated that it would only take 16 to 24 hours on webbs to confirm their results what could happen in the next few years.
Even beyond K2-18b said Madhusudhan, Webb and future telescopes could enable humanity to discover life outside of our home planet earlier than one could think.
“This could be the turning point on which suddenly the basic question of whether we are alone in the universe is one that we can answer,” he said.
DL/JS
