All articles tagged with #habitable
Astronomers have identified a nearby exoplanet, GJ 3378b, about 25 light-years away and roughly twice Earth’s size, orbiting in the star’s Goldilocks zone where liquid water could exist; its atmosphere is not yet known, and researchers say further observations are needed to assess habitability and search for biosignatures, with NASA planning a future Habitable Worlds Observatory to probe atmospheric life-signs.
NASA research suggests that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, may have supported single-celled life 2.5 to 4 billion years ago due to a once-present subsurface water reservoir heated by radioactive decay, despite being too cold now to sustain liquid water.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope discovered a potentially habitable planet, TWA 7b, located 34 light years away, using a new high-contrast imaging technique. The planet is about 100 times the size of Earth and has a temperature around 120°F, raising possibilities for life, although visiting it remains far beyond current capabilities.
Scientists believe that Mars may have been habitable for millions of years longer than previously thought, with its surface once covered in oceans, lakes, and rivers resembling early Earth. This raises the possibility of simple life evolving in Martian waters, but not for long enough to develop into complex organisms. The disappearance of liquid water from Mars more than three billion years ago likely ended any nascent life, but the tantalizing prospect remains that life may have thrived there.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has provided evidence suggesting the presence of an ocean on a massive exoplanet called K2-18 b, located over 100 light-years away in the constellation Leo. The planet, 8.6 times the mass of Earth, exhibits an atmosphere containing methane and carbon dioxide, consistent with an ocean-covered surface beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. While the detection of dimethyl sulfide raises the possibility of biological activity, further observations are needed to confirm this finding. The planet's large size and potential high-pressure ice mantle may make it inhospitable for life, but the discovery highlights the importance of exploring diverse habitable environments in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Scientists have discovered that Saturn's moon Enceladus has substantial amounts of phosphorus salts, a key chemical element for many biological processes, inside icy particles ejected into space by the small moon's plume, indicating that the moon has the necessary materials to make it habitable. The discovery was made by analyzing frozen spray from the satellite that was collected by NASA's Cassini mission. While having the ingredients is necessary, it may not be sufficient for an extraterrestrial environment to host life.
The European Space Agency's Juice mission is set to launch on Thursday to explore Jupiter and its three largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, which are believed to have subsurface oceans that could potentially harbor life. The spacecraft will take eight years to reach Jupiter and will spend three and a half years orbiting the gas giant and conducting flybys of the moons. The mission aims to determine if the moons are habitable and to search for evidence of the building blocks of life. The spacecraft is equipped with 10 instruments to study the moons' composition, structure, and magnetic fields.