NASA Expands Search for Life on 17 Exoplanets with Oceans Under Ice

SPACE — The American Space Agency or NASA is expanding its search for life outside the solar system. Most recently, they discovered as many as 17 exoplanets or planets outside the solar system that have oceans of liquid water under a layer of ice.

The ocean is an important ingredient for the emergence of life. On Earth, entire ecosystems thrive in total darkness at the bottom of the ocean, near hydrothermal vents, which provide energy and nutrients.

Water from the oceans of these planets can sometimes escape through the icy crust as geysers. The science team has calculated the number of geyser activity on the exoplanet. They identified two exoplanets, one of which was close enough that signs of the eruption could be observed with a telescope.

The search for life elsewhere usually focuses on exoplanets that are in a star’s habitable zone, that is, the distance where temperatures allow liquid water to survive on its surface. However, exoplanets that are too far from their stars can still have oceans beneath their icy crusts if their internal heating is sufficient.

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Something similar happens in our solar system where Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus have oceans beneath their surfaces. This subsurface ocean can accommodate life if it has other ingredients, such as energy supplies and elements and compounds in biological molecules.

The NASA science team considered conditions on 17 confirmed exoplanets. They are about the size of Earth, but less dense, indicating the presence of large amounts of ice and water compared to denser rocky planets.

Although the exact composition of these planets is still unknown, initial estimates are that their surface temperatures are much cooler than Earth’s. Research has calculated the surface temperatures of dozens of planets using surface brightness.

In comparison are other properties of Europa and Enceladus. The team also estimated the total internal heating on the exoplanet using the shape of each planet’s orbit.

Estimates of surface temperature and total heating provide the ice layer thickness for each exoplanet. This is because the ocean cools and freezes at the surface while being heated from the inside. Finally, they compared the numbers with Europa data, such as estimates of the level of geyser activity on Europa.

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Two of the exoplanets mentioned in this study, Proxima Centauri b and LHS1140 b, are promising candidates because they have oceans relatively close to their surfaces.

“Our model predicts that oceans can be found relatively close to the surface of Proxima Centauri b and LHS 1140 b, and the rate of geyser activity could exceed hundreds to thousands of times the geyser activity on Europa, telescopes are likely to be able to detect geological activity on these planets,” said Quick, the scientist who presented the research on December 12.

Further observations of a number of these planets will include taking the spectrum of light emissions passing through the atmospheres of these planets. Chemicals and molecules released into the atmosphere due to cryovolcanic activity may provide clues to whether life exists in the dark, cold depths of the world. Source: NASA

2023-12-16 07:01:00
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