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For the first time, water has been detected on an exoplanet orbiting in its star's habitable zone.
A new study by Professor Björn Benneke of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the Université de Montréal, his doctoral student Caroline Piaulet and several of their collaborators reports the detection of water vapour and perhaps even liquid water clouds in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b.
The planet is nine times the mass of Earth and circling more closely to its smaller M3 dwarf star with, a year length of only 33 days. K2-18b "receives virtually the same amount of total radiation from its host star" as Earth.
Scientists currently believe that the thick gaseous envelope of K2-18b likely prevents life as we know it from existing on the planet's surface.
Still, according to Professor Benneke "This represents the biggest step yet taken towards our ultimate goal of finding life on other planets, of proving that we are not alone."
Journal Reference
Björn Benneke, Ian Wong, Caroline Piaulet, Heather A. Knutson, Ian J.M. Crossfield, Joshua Lothringer, Caroline V. Morley, Peter Gao, Thomas P. Greene, Courtney Dressing, Diana Dragomir, Andrew W. Howard, Peter R. McCullough, Eliza M.-R. Kempton Jonathan J. Fortney, Jonathan Fraine. Water Vapor on the Habitable-Zone Exoplanet K2-18b. Astronomical Journal (submitted), 2019 [link]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday September 12 2019, @10:17PM (8 children)
I always laugh when I hear or read that phrase.
just in the last 50 years we have discovered living things in places that "life as we know it" should not have been able to exist.
Deep see thermal vents, cold methane seeps, 2.8km underground (using radioactivity to survive) and myriad other places so environmentally harsh it would kill a human in seconds.
On Earth where ever we find water we also find life. Why shouldn't the same constant apply elsewhere in the Universe?
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday September 13 2019, @01:25AM
Once life exists somewhere, it fills all the niches all right. The idea was fist formulated by Vernadsky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Vernadsky [wikipedia.org] in his biosphere concept. The question is if the other star systems belong to the same biosphere or have their own unique one.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday September 13 2019, @02:12AM (1 child)
Like, say, the piranha solution? Wake me up when you find life there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday September 13 2019, @06:06PM
you forgot to mention "Aqua regia" as well
I hadn't heard of the piranha solution before, thanks for the infobit :)
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 13 2019, @03:24PM (4 children)
The phrase that makes me laugh comes from Si Fi movies / TV.
"It's made of a metal not found on earth!"
Oh, really? What element on the periodic table is that?
But with uninformed people this leads to: "but there could be metals not on the periodic table"
To which I must ask: Do you understand how the periodic table is constructed? Start with one neutron-electron. Then increment.
Every performance optimization is a grate wait lifted from my shoulders.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 13 2019, @03:25PM (1 child)
Doh! Not enough caffeine. proton-electron
Every performance optimization is a grate wait lifted from my shoulders.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 13 2019, @03:58PM
maybe with the right "press" that doesnt rely on relativity we can make stabiler nucleons with s quarks or energetic proton and neutrons (deltas)?
you know, instead of a "atom smasher", we can "somehow" coax them nucleons with a more "soft approach" into them so-called short lived states of matter that are observed in colliderz, we can expand the periodic table to include predators mini harpoon ^_^
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday September 13 2019, @05:59PM (1 child)
Lets not forget the classic "Particle of the Week" :)
I think my all time favorite, and legendary, is the quote “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow” :D
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 13 2019, @06:21PM
Most of my recollections of Particle Of The Weak
would begin from Star Trek: The Next Generation. They started it.
Every performance optimization is a grate wait lifted from my shoulders.