Researchers recently announced the greater evidence of life on another planet already discovered by science. The discovery, made in the Exoplanet K2-18 B located 120 light years from Earth, has generated great interest in the scientific community and the general public.
Ricardo Ogando, astronomer National observatory explains that the K2-18 B is a “subnetne” planet, being slightly larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune. Scientists have detected the presence of a substance that is usually produced by living organisms such as phytoplankton and ocean algae.
The Role of the James Webb Telescope
The detection was possible thanks to the James Webb space telescope, which has exceeded expectations since its launch, providing impressive observations from galaxies at the beginning of the universe to this potential bioassine in an exoplanet.
Ogando points out, however, that caution is necessary: “Is it robust? Can you hit the hammer and say ‘wow, we discovered life on another planet’? We are far from it “He explains that despite the extraordinary capabilities of James Webb, further studies and modeling is needed to reach a safe conclusion.
Comparison with previous discoveries
This new evidence adds to other searches for extraterrestrial life, such as Mars’s missions and research on moons like Europe, by Jupiter. By 2020, there was also the controversial detection of phosfine in Venus, which generated debates in the scientific community.
K2-18 B is located in Called “Habitable Zone” region where liquid water is possible, considered essential to life as we know it. This makes the planet a target of great interest to astronomers.
Although the discovery represents a significant advance, the astronomer emphasizes that we are still far from Confirm the existence of life outside the earth . The search continues, and each new evidence brings us a little closer to answering one of the most fundamental questions of humanity: are we alone in the universe?
Intelligent life on earth is not just chance, scientists point out
This content was originally published in life outside the earth: there is still no safe conclusion, says astronomer on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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