Astronomers were finally able to prove that extraterrestrial life exists on a distant planet after observations made today.
Planet K2-18b, which is more than twice the size of Earth and 120 light-years away, lies within the habitable zone of its star in the constellation Leo.
Scientists said last year that they believed they had detected dimethyl sulfide gas in its atmosphere, a compound that “is only produced by life.”
Now, to confirm the finding, the James Webb Space Telescope will conduct hours of observations of the planet on Friday.
However, space fans will have to wait several months for the results to be authenticated and published.
Scientists made an exciting and potentially groundbreaking discovery in the search for extraterrestrial life, after detecting signs of a gas produced only by living organisms on a distant water planet known as K2-18b (pictured in an artist’s impression)
Detection: A gas ‘exclusively associated with life’ when found on Earth has been discovered in the atmosphere of K2-18 b. The compound dimethyl sulfide was detected along with large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane (pictured).
Investigations of planet K2-18b are led by Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge.
He called it a ‘Hicean’ world, a relatively new term he coined to refer to a rocky planet with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and water oceans.
“If we detect DMS (on K2-18b), we’ll basically put it at the top of possible signs of habitability,” he said. the times.
K2-18b, more than eight times the mass of Earth and more than twice its size, was discovered in 2015.
But it was not until 2019 that the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18b was reported.
Then, last year, the James Webb telescope detected carbon dioxide and methane in its atmosphere, as well as a shortage of ammonia.
Dr. Madhusudhan called this a “very profound moment” because it supports the theory that there is an ocean of water beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
But it was the presence of something else that excited astronomers even more.
Planet K2-18b, more than eight times the mass of Earth and 120 light-years away, lies within the habitable zone of its star in the constellation Leo. It is closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, meaning it has shorter years, completing its orbit in 33 days, while ours takes 365.
It is believed to be a ‘Hycean’ world (depicted): a new class of exoplanet that possesses key ingredients for alien species due to its hydrogen-rich atmospheres and water oceans.
More observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (pictured) could confirm the presence of DMS in the planet’s atmosphere.
Webb’s initial observations provided a possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which on Earth “is only produced by life.”
Most of the DMS in Earth’s atmosphere is emitted by phytoplankton in marine environments, suggesting a similar way of life on the distant planet.
In fact, scientists have been unable to think of any natural geological or chemical process that could create DMS without living organisms.
Dr Madhusudhan said the finding came as a shock, but as these were initial observations, he could only say with 50 per cent confidence that there is DMS in K2-18b.
“It was a real shock, I had sleepless nights for a week,” he added.
“That week, I didn’t even work up the courage to tell my own team.”
Today, eight hours of observations by the James Webb telescope should provide a definitive answer, although the expert will have to spend months studying the data to obtain it.
NASA’s $10bn (£7.4bn) observatory is capable of analyzing the chemical composition of a distant planet by capturing light from its host star after it has passed through the planet’s atmosphere on its way to the earth.
Gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the starlight, but each of them leaves telltale fingerprints in the light spectrum that astronomers can then detect.
The James Webb Telescope has detected key molecules, as shown in this graph from a paper published last year. Today, the observatory will specifically look for dimethyl sulfide (DMS)
Although Hycean worlds are predicted to be covered in water, researchers say it is also possible that K2-18 b’s putative ocean is too hot to be habitable or liquid.
In fact, a study published earlier this year suggested that the ocean may be lava.
K2-18b is known as a “super Earth” because it is larger than our planet but smaller than Neptune.
The large size of K2-18b (with a radius 2.6 times the radius of Earth) means that the planet’s interior likely contains a large, high-pressure ice mantle, like Neptune, but with a thinner, hydrogen-rich atmosphere. and an ocean surface.
“Although this type of planet does not exist in our solar system, sub-Neptunes are the most common type of planet known so far in the galaxy,” said researcher Subhajit Sarkar of Cardiff University.
“We have obtained the most detailed spectrum to date of a sub-Neptune in the habitable zone, which has allowed us to determine the molecules that exist in its atmosphere.”
The James Webb Telescope: NASA’s $10 billion telescope is designed to detect light from the first stars and galaxies
The James Webb Telescope has been described as a “time machine” that could help unlock the secrets of our universe.
The telescope will be used to observe the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets and even the moons and planets of our solar system.
The huge telescope, which has already cost more than $7bn (£5bn), is seen as a successor to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of about 40 Kelvin, about -387 Fahrenheit (-233 Celsius).
It is the largest and most powerful orbital space telescope in the world, capable of looking back 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang.
The orbiting infrared observatory is designed to be about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA likes to think of James Webb as a successor to Hubble rather than a replacement, since the two will work together for a while.
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990 via the space shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It orbits the Earth at a speed of about 17,000 mph (27,300 kph) in low-Earth orbit at about 340 miles altitude.