In a striking discovery, scientists obtained what they consider to be the most strong signs as possible existence of life beyond the solar system detecting in the atmosphere of a alien planet Chemical fingerprints of gases that are produced only by biological processes.
The two gases – dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide – involved in the observations of the Planet called K2-18 B By the James Webb space telescope are generated on earth by living organisms, especially microbial life, such as marine phytoplankton.
This suggests that the Planet may be full of microbial life the researchers said. They emphasize, however, that they are not announcing the discovery of living organisms, but Possible bioassinature – an indicator of a biological process – and that Results should be seen with caution more observations are required.
They expressed enthusiasm however. These are the first evidence of an alien world that can be inhabited said astrophysicist Nikku Madhusudhan of the Institute of Astronomy of Cambridge University, lead author of the study published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“This is a transformative moment in Search for life beyond the solar system in which we demonstrate that it is possible to detect bioassinatures on potentially habitable planets with current facilities. We entered the age of observational astrobiology, ”said Madhusudhan.
Madhusudhan noted that there are several efforts in progress in the search for signs of life in our solar system, including assumptions of environments that can be conducive to life in places withThe Mars, Venus and several icy moons.
K2-18 B is 8.6 times more massive than the earth and has a diameter about 2.6 times larger than the planet.
It orbits in the “habitable zone”-a distance where liquid water, a fundamental ingredient for life, may exist on a planetary surface-around a smaller and less luminous red star than the sun, located about 124 light years from the Earth in the lion constellation.
A light year is the distance that light travels in one year, or 9.5 trillion kilometers. Another planet was also identified orbiting this star.
“Oceanic World”
About 5,800 planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, have been discovered since the 1990s.
Scientists have raised the hypothesis of existence of exoplanets covered by an ocean of liquid water habitable by microorganisms and with a hydrogen -rich atmosphere – the so -called oceanic worlds.
Previous Webb observations, which was launched in 2021 and went into operation in 2022, identified methane and carbon dioxide in the K2-18 B atmosphere, first time that carbon-based molecules were discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the habitable zone of a star.
“The only scenario that currently explains all data obtained so far by JWST (James Webb Space Telescope), including past and present observations, is one where the K2-18 B is an oceanic world full of life,” said Madhusudhan.
“However, we need to be open and keep exploring other scenarios,” he added.
Madhusudhan said that with the ocean worlds, if they exist, “we are talking about microbial life, possibly as we see in the oceans of the earth.”
The hypothesis is that its oceans are warmer than those of the earth. Asked about possible multicellular organisms or even smart life, Madhusudhan said, “We cannot answer this question at this stage. Basic assumption is simple microbial life.”
DMS and DMDs, both from the same chemical family, are considered as important exoplanet bioassinatures. The webb found that one or the other, or possibly both, were present in the planet atmosphere with a confidence level of 99.7%, which means there is still a chance of 0.3% of observation being a statistical chance.
Gases were detected at atmospheric concentrations of more than 10 parts per million per volume.
“For reference, this is thousands of times more than its concentrations in the earth’s atmosphere and cannot be explained without biological activity based on existing knowledge,” said Madhusudhan.
Scientists who did not participate in the study advise caution.
“The rich data of the K2-18 Bo make a tempting world,” said Christopher Glein, lead scientist at the Southwest Research Institute’s Space Science Division in Texas.
“These newer data are a valuable contribution to our understanding. However, we should be very careful to test the data as completely as possible. I look forward to seeing additional and independent work on data analysis, which will start next week,” he added.
This content was originally published in scientists find the strongest evidence of life on planet alien on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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