Scientists have discovered what they believe are a potential sign life on the planet in a different Solar system In the “strongest indicator” that life exists outside the country.
Researchers analyze K2-18b, which the orbits of the stars 120 lights on the ground found the molecule that on Earth is linked to live organisms in the atmosphere of the planet.
A potentially study on the country’s membership was published on Wednesday in astrophysical journals.
“This is the strongest evidence that exists there. I can realistically confirm this signal within one to two years,” Astronomer told Nikku Madhusudhan, a professor at the University of Cambridge, the leading author of the new study, on the main author of the new study, BBC.
The findings could even suggest that K2-18B was covered in the ocean, home living organisms.
His team noticed large amounts of chemicals that, when found on Earth, produce marine phytoplankton and bacteria; The amount of these molecules found in the K2-18B atmosphere is thousands of times higher than what is on earth, he said.
“So, if the association with life is really, then that planet will be tangled with life,” he said for the BBC. “If we confirm that there is life on K2-18B, it should basically confirm that life is very congested in the galaxy.”
“No one is interest in saying prematurely that we discovered life,” Madhusudhan said New York Times.
Mans Holmberg, co-author of the study and postdoctoral researcher on the Space Telescopic Institute, said Washington Post For observations suggest that the planet could praise the atmosphere of rich hydrogen and the ocean deeper than any on earth.
“Everything about this system is quite alien. We have nothing like in the solar system,” he said.
Other experts in the field noted the potential size of revelation, but invited caution before drawing any caring conclusions.
“It’s nothing,” Stephen Schmidt said, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University, he said Time. “It’s a hint. But we can’t conclude it’s ready to move in.”
“I think this is one of these situations in which extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” Laura Kreidberg, astronomer at Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, Eg. “I’m not sure we’re still at the level of extraordinary evidence.”
A discussion on the presence of molecules on the planet, as well as what they could mean, and if they are actually there. For example, chemicals could refer to a procedure that cannot be associated with living organisms on the K2-18b.
The research team agreed.
“Or watching a new chemical process that we haven’t seen before … or we witness the first signs of biological activity outside the country,” Holmberg said.