A group of researchers announced on Wednesday that they've discovered the most compelling evidence so far for potential life on a giant planet outside our solar system.
"At this stage, what we're uncovering are indications of potential biological activity beyond our solar system," stated Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist from Cambridge University.
Madhusudhan informed journalists at a press briefing that identifying chemical signatures of gases which on our planet are exclusively created through biological processes represents the “initial indications we might be observing an exoplanet potentially teeming with life.”
"It marks an epochal event," he stated to journalists during a media briefing held to celebrate a possibly transformative finding made with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Most compelling evidence of alien life on K2-18 b
The team similarly moved swiftly to sound a note of warning, stating that they weren’t declaring the finding of live organisms; instead, additional observations were necessary to pinpoint precisely what they had detected.
The research paper, featured in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, revealed that scientists found what might be a biosignature—a sign of a living organism—on a planet located 120 light-years away from our planet.
Microbial existence on a world circling a star located 120 light-years distant
This possible indication of microbial life exists on a planet called K2-18 b, which is approximately 8.6 times more massive than Earth and has a diameter roughly 2.6 times larger than our world.
The planet is located 120 light-years distant, and earlier studies by scientists uncovered the existence of carbon-containing molecules such as methane and carbon dioxide on this exoplanet—an entity orbiting a star beyond our solar system. It’s worth noting that these carbon-based compounds form the foundation for life.
Earlier research indicated that K2-18 b might qualify as a Hycean exoplanet, potentially featuring an atmosphere rich in hydrogen and a surface enveloped by oceans of water.
Researchers advise waiting as they continue the quest for extraterrestrial life.
Christopher Glein, the lead scientist at the Space Science Division of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, refers to K2-18 b as "an intriguing planet," yet he cautions that the scientific community needs to "exercise caution and rigorously scrutinize the information available."
Sara Seager, a professor of planetary science at MIT, advocates for caution, citing an example where initial reports of water vapor in K2-18 b's atmosphere were later identified as another gas.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
Author: Shakeel Sobhan (along with AFP and Reuters contributions)