Astronomers report that the possibility of life on distant K2-18B planet increases
A team of astronomers led by Cambridge University said they are closer to statistically important scientific discoveries that will show that the signs of life of the “K2-18B” they were found from distant exoplanets is not accidental.
Astronomers use data from the James Webb space telescope, which has been used since the end of 2021, to detect chemical traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which they say can only be produced by life, such as plant kale on the sea. According to the university, “The results are by far the strongest evidence that life may exist on planets outside our solar system.”
The results were published this week in the Journal of Astrophysics and pointed out the possibility of the planet's surface oceans, a surface that scientists have been hoping to discover. In this article abstract, the team said: “The possibilities of the marine world, the oceans and the rich atmosphere of H2 across the planet, greatly expand and accelerate the search for habitable environments elsewhere.”
But not everyone agrees that what the team found proves life in external activities.
“The potential discovery of alien life is so tempting that it even delays well-known channels into naive or downright misleading stories,” Corey S. Powell, a science writer and founder of OpenMind magazine, wrote in the Blues.
“Here we use the K2-18B planet again,” Powell wrote.
K2-18b is much larger than Earth (more than eight times the mass) 124 light years away, but smaller than Neptune. The search for signs of basic life on such planets adds more planets that may be inhabited by the temperature and atmosphere that can maintain life forms similar to humans. The team behind the paper hopes that more research on the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm their initial discovery.
More research
Christopher Glein, a geochemicalist at the San Antonio Southwest Institute, said exoplanet K2-18b is not the only place scientists explore the possibilities of life, and the study remains an early step in the process. He said excitement about the importance of the study should be alleviated.
“We need to be careful here,” Glein said. “It seems that there is something unexplained in the data, and DMS/DMD can provide an explanation. However, this detection is expanding the limitations of JWST functionality.”
“Further work is needed to test whether these molecules actually exist. We also need complementary studies to evaluate the abiotic backgrounds of K2-18B and planet-like. That is, the chemical properties that may occur in this potentially alien environment without life. We may see some cool chemical evidence, not life.”
Glein said the Trappist-1 planet is being studied as potential residence, as is LHS 1140b, saying: “This is another exoplanet of astronomical significance, which could be a huge ocean world.”
As for K2-18B, he said more testing is needed before reaching a consensus on the life of its existence.
“Searching for evidence of life is like prosecuting a case in court,” Glein said. “There is a lot of independent evidence to convince the jury, in this case the global scientific community.”
“If this discovery holds true, that's the first step,” he said.
