In a potential breakthrough, scientists using the James Webb space telescope obtained what they call the strongest symptoms of a possible life outside our solar system, detecting in the atmosphere of a foreign planet chemical fingerprints of gas fingerprints, which are produced only by biological processes on Earth.
Two Dimeth or DMS gases and DMS dimethyl or DMD-a planet's observations called K2-18 B are generated on Earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life, such as sea phytoplankton-glone.
This suggests that the planet can be full of the life of microorganisms, scientists gave. They emphasized, however, that they did not announce the discovery of actual living organisms, but rather possible biosignatura – the indicator of the biological process – and that the findings should be seen carefully, with the necessary more observations.
Nevertheless, they expressed excitement. These are the first tips of the foreign world, which is probably inhabited, said Nikk Astrophysic Madhusudhan from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomia, the main author of the study Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“This is a transformation moment in search of life outside the Solar System, in which we showed that it is possible to detect biosignatura in potentially inhabited plans with current amenities. We entered the era of observation astrobiology,” said Madhusudhan.
Astronomer Michelle Kunimoto explains how he uses data from the transit satellite survey of the Exoplanet NASA to detect probable planets circulating with distant stars in many light years. A 30-year-old graduate of the BC University discovered over 3,000 planets candidates and is to join the Astronomy Faculty of Alma Mater in 2024.
Madhusudhan noticed that various efforts are ongoing in search of signs of life in our solar system, including various claims about environments that can promote life in places such as Mars, Venus and various icy moons.
K2-18 B is 8.6 times larger than Earth and has a diameter about 2.6 times larger than our planet.
It orbits in the “residential zone”-in which liquid water, a key ingredient in life, can exist on the planetary surface-a red dwarf star of a smaller and less light star than our sun, located about 124 light years from Earth in the constellation Leo. Light year is light light during the year, 9.5 trillion kilometers. One other planet was also identified, circling from this star.
Evidence regarding the exoplanets K2-18 B
About 5,800 planets, apart from our solar system, called exoplanets, have been discovered since the 1990s. Scientists have hypothesized the existence of exoplanets called the worlds of hydromeration-liquid residential water ocean by microorganisms and atmosphere rich in hydrogen.
Earlier Webba observations, which were launched in 2021 and became launched in 2022, identified methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 B, for the first time, when coal-based particles were discovered in the atmosphere of exoplanets in the zone of the granted star.
“The only scenario that currently explains all data obtained so far from JWST (James Webb Space Telescope), including past and current observations, is one in which K2-18 B is a Hiker world full of life,” said Madhusudhan. “However, we must be open and continue to study other scenarios.”
Madhusudhan said that in the case of Hykene worlds, if they exist: “We are talking about the life of microorganisms, perhaps similar to what we see in the oceans of the Earth.” Their oceans are hypothesis to make them warmer than Earth. When asked about possible multicellular organisms and even intelligent life, Madhusudhan said: “We will not be able to answer this question at this stage. The basic assumption is the simple life of microorganisms.”
DMS and DMDs, which come from the same chemical family, were provided as important exoplanet biosolratures. Webb stated that one or the other, or perhaps both were present in the atmosphere of a planet at a trust level of 99.7 percent, which means that there is still a 0.3 % chance that observation will be statistical.
The gases were detected at atmospheric concentrations of over 10 parts per million according to volume.
“For reference, this is thousands of times higher than their concentrations in an atmosphere of land and they cannot be explained without biological activity based on existing knowledge,” said Madhusudhan.
Scientists not involved in the study advised circumcision.
“Rich data from K2-18 B make it a tempting world,” said Christopher Glein, the main scientist from the Sciences Department of Space Southwest Research Institute in Texas. “These latest data is a valuable contribution to our understanding. However, we must carefully test the data as accurately as possible. I am looking forward to additional, independent work on data analysis, starting next week.”
How astronomers measured the chemistry of the planet
K2-18 B is part of the “subteptune” planets class with a diameter of more than Earth, but less than Neptune, the smallest gas planet of our solar system.
To determine the chemical composition of the atmosphere of the exoplanet, astronomers analyze the light from the host star when the planet passes before it from the perspective of the Earth, called the transit method. As the planet's flow, the Webb may detect a decrease in star brightness, and a small part of the light of the stars passes through the planetary atmosphere before it is detected by the telescope. This allows scientists to determine the components of gas atmosphere of the planet.
A collection of deep galaxies can be seen for the first time. The picture shows the galaxies in the foreground and weak at a distance, which provides astronomers with the ability to look at the time when the universe was in its infancy.
Previous observations of this planet Webba provided a preliminary DMS note. New observations were used by a different instrument and a different range of light wavelength.
Madhusudhan said that the “Holy Grail” of exoplanets is finding evidence of life on an earth -like planet outside our solar system. Madhusudhan said that for thousands of years our species wondered if we are “alone” in the universe – and now it could be in just a few years of detecting a possible life of strangers in the world of Hykean.
But Madhusudhan still insisted.
“First of all, we must repeat the observations two to three times to make sure that the signal we see is solid and increase the importance of detection” to a level at which the chances of statistical cases are more or less less, said Madhusudhan.
“Secondly, we need more theoretical and experimental research to make sure that there is a different abiotic mechanism (one does not include biological processes) to produce DMS or DMDs in the atmosphere planets, such as K2-18 b. Although previous studies suggested (as) solid biosigtura, even for K2-18 b, we must remain open and realize other possibilities,” Madhus, “Madhus,” Madhus Sugesthan.
So the findings are “big, if” about whether observations are caused by life, and “no one is interesting to prematurely claim that we have detected life,” said Madhusudhan.