Wednesday, September 13, 2023

This Time It Could Be Aliens!

 The James Webb Telescope is doing some fantastic science. For right now, let's focus on K2-18b. This is an exoplanet that is almost nine times the size of Earth (larger planets are, obviously, easier to observe).

K2-18b orbits in the habitable zone of a red dwarf. It would not be particularly great for humans, given the much higher gravity and radiation.

But.

In 2019, Hubble detected water vapor on K2-18b. This made it a good target for the much more advanced JWST.

Which found methane, carbon dioxide and...dimethyl sulfide. We know of only one process that can produce this molecule.

Life.

K2-18b is believed to be a Hycean world, with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a mostly ocean surface.

We need to do follow-up observations to fully confirm (or debunk) the findings.

But there might just be aliens.

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