by A team of scientists announced on Wednesday that they found the strongest signs of possible life on a massive planet on a massive planet via our solar system.
“What we find out at this point are indications of possible biological activities outside the solar system,” said Nikku Madhusudhan, astrophysicist at Cambridge University.
Madhusudhan told a press conference that the detection of chemical fingerprints of gases, which are only generated on earth by biological processes, “first indications that we see from an alien world that may be inhabited”.
“This is a revolutionary moment,” he said at a press conference that he should mark a potentially life -changing discovery with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Strongest sign of extraterrestrial life on K2-18 B
The team quickly asked for caution and said that it did not announce the discovery of the actual living organisms, and further observations were necessary to determine exactly what they saw.
In the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers instead discovered a possible biosignature or an indicator of a biological process on a planet that circles a star of 120 light years from the earth.
Microbial life on a planet that creeps up a star 120 light years away
This potential proof of microbial lifespan is on a planet called K2-18 B, which is about 8.6 times as massive as the earth and has a diameter of about 2.6 times as large as our planet.
The planet is 120 light years away and scientists have previously shown the presence of carbon -containing molecules such as methane and carbon dioxide (molecules based on carbon are the building blocks of life) on the exoplanet, which means that a planet that buys stars outside of our solar system.
Earlier studies have pointed out that K2-18 B could be a Hycean Exoplanet that has the potential to have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water-ocean surface.
Scientists demand patience in search of life beyond the earth
Christopher Glein, the main scientist of the Space Science Division of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, describes K2-18 B as “a tempting world”, but warns that the scientific community should be “careful to test the data as thoroughly as possible”.
Sara Seaager, professor of planetary science, calls on the patience and indicates a case in which earlier demands on water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18 B turn out to be another gas.
Published by: Roshni Majumdar
