Dr. Ian Whittaker of Nottingham Trent explains the new study of science that claims to have seen biomarkers on the distant planet.
What do you think when it comes to extraterrestrial life? The most popular science fiction television books and programs suggest that humanoid beings could live on other planets. But when astronomers are looking for an extraterrestrial life, it is usumby in the form of bacteria emissions or other small organisms.
A new research work in Astrophysical magazine suggests that scientists from the University of Cambridge have managed to find this type of broadcast with a certainty or 99.7pc of a planet called K2-18B, 124 light years away.
They used the NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to analyze the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere and say they found promising evidence K2-18B could house life.
It is an exciting advance, but it does not confirm alien life.
Let’s see why scientists do not accept the article as proof of alien life.
Why is it so difficult to detect for alien life
Exoplanet hunting was rapidly reduced due to the amazing number of planets that scientists are discovering.
The first convincing exoplanet around a star of the Sun was discovered in 1995 through radial speed, where you do not look at the planet, but observes its effect on its closest star. As the star wobbles from one place to another, it causes a small change in the wavelength of the light that emits, which we can measure. We already know approximately 7,500 planets.
Only 43 (to date) have been observed directly (approximately 0.5pc of theme). Most are discovered through indirect measurements, such as radial speed or transit method. The transit method is where it observes how the star’s brightness decreases as the planet passes in front of it. It will block a small amount of light.
Exoplanet atmosphere
Looking at the atmosphere of an exoplanet is even more diffusion. Scientists use spectroscopy to do this. The light that comes out of the star can be seen directly and a small amount will also go through the planet’s atmosphere. Researchers can estimate which exoplanet atmosphere is made of studying which star’s light is emitted or absorbed in the atmosphere.
Let’s try an analogy. You have a desk lamp at one end of a long table and you are standing at the other end, looking at the lamp. There is a glass of liquid between you and the lamp. In very simple terms, the glass of liquid that acts as an exoplanet and atmosphere, looks slightly blue, allowing it to identify it as water. However, in reality for scientists, it is more like the glass of water is a small glass account that is rolling while anyone is brass with a more dim swing in the lamp. Then, the strange climate results in a soft way that is missing on the table. The liquid is 99pc of pure water and 1 percent mineral water and the scientist is trying to see what minerals are in water.
You can see that the request for experience to do this work is incredible. They observed molecules with a 99.7pc trust rate, which is a remarkable achievement.
JWST and K2-18B data
The key data in this study are in a graph that fits the light absorption rates to which children or molecules could be there and resolve how abundant they are. It occurs in this short film about the discovery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygwdep4rzzc
The graph produced by the authors of the study shows evidence of dimethyl sulturo and dimethyl dissulture (DMS).
Some scientists think of DMS as a biomarker, a molecular indicator of life on earth. However, the DMS is not only produced by bacteria, but is also found in comet 67p and in gas and dust of the interstellar medium, the space between the stars. It can be generated with bright UV light in a simulated atmosphere. The authors recognize this and claim that the amount they determined that it was present cannot be produced by any of these conditions.
Similar to other statements or life?
Multiple studies have shown indicators for DMS and life in general in K2-18B and there are many other statements for other exoplanets.
The most recently is the idea that phosphine (another biomarker) was discovered in the Venusian atmosphere, so there must be bacteria in the clouds. This claim was quickly refuted by other researchers. The scientists pointed out that a small error in the coincidence of data created results that showed a greater abundance of phosphine that requires it. Cambridge’s study is more rigorous and has more certainty in the result. But it is not strong enough to convince the academic community, which needs certainty of 99,999 percent.
The authors of the study suggest that their findings indicate liquid oceans and an atmosphere of hydrogen, but others have counteracted that it could be a gas giant or a volcanic planet full of magma.
Cambridge’s study is not a test of life, but it is an important step for the characterization of how other planets could be and determine whether we are alone or not. The study presented the best result so far and should inspire other scientists to assume the challenge.
By Dr. Ian Whittaker
Dr. Ian Whittaker is a Professor of Space and Astrophysics Sciences at the University of Nottingham Trent. He completed his doctorate in 2010 looking at the interaction of the sun with the upper atmosphere of Venus. Since then, he has postdoctoral contracts of Hero Six, which cover medical images, solar physics, Earth’s radiation belts, lightning in tropical cyclones, X -ray astronomy and X -ray observations of the earth’s magnetopause.
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