Astronomers claim to have discovered the strongest signs of possible life on a planet 700 trillion kilometers from Earth.
It Cambridge University scientists A medium infrared camera is used from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Observe Exoplanet K2-18bA planet that is not found in our solar system and is eight times the size of the Earth, orbiting a star 124 years of light.
The planet was first discovered in 2017 by Canadian astronomers while watching terrestrial telescopes in Chile, According to the New York Times. The « Hycean planet », that is, is the home of a large molecule meaning life, it is in the center of a New study published in Letters from astrophysic magazines.
Astronomers detected chemical traces of gas in the atmosphere of the alien planet that are only produced by biological processes on Earth.
The two gases: dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS)-implied in K2-18B observations are generated on Earth by living organisms, mainly microbial life such as marine phytoplankton, commonly known as algae.
This suggests that the planet can have a microbial life, according to researchers.
« These are the first suggestions we are seeing of an alien world that is possible, » said Nikku Madhusudhan from the Institute of Astronomy of Cambridge at a press conference on Tuesday. « It is in the interest of anyone prematurely saying that we have detected life.
« This is a transformational time in the search for life beyond the solar system, where we have shown that it is possible to detect biosignatures in potentially habitable planets with current facilities. We have entered the era of observational astrobiology. »
Madhusun, the main author of the Letters from astrophysic magazines The study stated that there are efforts undergoing life signs in our solar system, including environments that could be conducive to life in places like Mars, Venus and several frozen moons.
The researchers are not announcing the discovery of real living organisms, but a possible biosignment – an indicator of a biological process – and say that the findings must be seen with caution.
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The findings of the University of Cambridge have reached the level of statistical significance of « three sigma », which means that there is a probability of 0.3 percent that occur by chance, according to the report. In order to achieve the classification accepted for scientific discovery, the report stated that observations should cross the « five -sigma threshold », which means that there would be « a probability less than 0.000006 percent that occurred by accident. »
Other astronomers have requested caution on new findings until other groups can be verified.
« The rich data of K2-18 B make it a shy world, » Christopher Glein, the main scientist of the spatial science division of the Southwestern Research Institute in Texas, He told Reuters. « These latest data are a valuable contribution to our understanding. However, we need to be very careful to try the data as much as possible. I hope to see an additional and independent work of data analysis from next week. »
« Unless we see us shakes, it will not be a smoking gun, » Glein told the New York Times.
« It’s nothing, » The Outlet told Johns Hopkins University Planetary scientist, Stephen Schmidt. « It’s a suggestion. But we can’t yet conclude that it is habitable. »
Ryan Macdonald at Michigan University said New scientist That « New JWST observations do not offer convincing evidence that DM or DMDs are present in the K2-18B atmosphere ».
« We have a wolf situation that the wolf that was K2-18B, where several previous three-sigma detections have faded completely when they are subjected to narrower scrutiny. Any life claim beyond the Earth must be strictly reviewed by other scientists and, unfortunately, many previous exciting claims for K2-18B have not resisted these independent checks.
Madhusudan also requested caution by saying: « We must first repeat the observations two to three times to ensure that the signal we are seeing is robust and increasing the importance of detection. » He wanted to say that the odds of a statistical flow are below about a million.
« Secondly, we need more theoretical and experimental studies to ensure whether or not there is another abiotic mechanism (one that does not involve biological processes) to do DMS or DMD in a planetary atmosphere like that of K2-18B. Although previous studies have suggested (as) robust biosignes even for K2-18B, we must remain open and persecute other possibilities, » said Madhusudhan.
Former JWST ObservationsIt was launched in 2021 and became operational in 2022, had identified the methane and carbon dioxide in the K2-18 B atmosphere, the first time carbon-based molecules were discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the habitable area of a star.
« The only scenario that currently explains all the data obtained so far from JWST, including past and current observations, is one where K2-18 B is a Hycean world that has life, » said Madhusudhan. « However, we must be open and continue to explore other scenarios. »
When asked about a possible smart life at K2-18B during the press conference, Madhusudhan said: « We will not be able to answer this question in this phase. The base assumption is simple microbial life. »
He said that he and his team estimated that between 16 and 24 hours of later observations with JWST they could help them reach the level of five sigma.
« The theoretical work above had planned that high levels of sulfide -based gas such as DM and DMDs are possible in Hycean worlds, » said Madhusudhan. « And now we have observed it, in line with what was expected. Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that has life is the scenario that best suits the data we have. »
« Our work is the starting point for all the research that is now needed to confirm and understand the implications of these exciting findings, » said co -author Savvas ConstantinouAlso from the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy.
This is not the first time that astronomers have claimed to have detected alien life.
In September 2020, Astronomers said they detected a chemical in the Venusian clouds Probably could only occur in organic life. Two telescopes detected the presence of phosphine in the clouds over Venus, according to a Study published in Nature and another sent to the magazine Astrobiology. The chemical only comes from factories and microbes that live in oxygen-free environments on Earth, and there is no other natural process known for producing it.
This means that there is no way that the chemical exists in this form, except for the presence of life « or through some chemistry ever before seeing, according to the authors of the study.
« I was stopped, » said Jane Greaves, author of the main study and professor at the University of Cardiff in the United Kingdom.
The discovery was not a proof of life, but it was a good advantage that could help astronomers to restrict the scope about what kind of foreigners they should look for in Venus, according to Greaves.
– With files of Global News and Reuters
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