James Webb Telescope May Have Found ET

[gortex]

Scientists using the Webb Telescope had observed K2-18b previously and discovered the planet was about twice the size of Earth with an atmosphere that contained amounts of methane , carbon dioxide along with the hint of a bio signature  , that finding marked it out for further investigation and now comes news that 2 possible bio signatures have been discovered in the atmosphere.

Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone.

On Earth, DMS and DMDS are only produced by life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton. While an unknown chemical process may be the source of these molecules in K2-18b's atmosphere, the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.

  

K2-18b , or Vulcan as I'm calling it , orbits a Red Dwarf Star within the Stars Habitable zone about 124 Light Years from Earth , it's size and position means it is probably a Hycean exoplanet which means it posses a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface.

Further time on Webb to fully explore Vulcan is being booked , we are not alone .... probably.

While he is not yet claiming a definitive discovery, Madhusudhan says that with powerful tools like JWST and future planned telescopes, humanity is taking new steps toward answering that most essential of questions: are we alone?

"Decades from now, we may look back at this point in time and recognise it was when the living universe came within reach," said Madhusudhan. "This could be the tipping point, where suddenly the fundamental question of whether we're alone in the universe is one we're capable of answering."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...204034.htm

Artists impression of Vulcan.


It's life Jim , possibly as we know it.

[Ninurta]

A couple of videos on the discovery:




And one that is a bit more in-depth:




Dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide are both ONLY produced by biological activity on Earth. That does not preclude the possibility that it may be being produced by some sort of exotic chemistry found on the exoplanet -some combination of chemicals in the atmosphere reacting with some exotic minerals on the surface, for example, but it IS a strong indicator.

The last video talks about the debate on whether red dwarves can produce life in the biozones around them, since they are often flare stars, but it doesn't go into the other objection for life at red dwarves, which is that if a planet is close enough to the star to be in the biozone, it's also likely to be close enough to be "tidally locked" to the the star (as the moon is to Earth). That would cause it to always present the same hemisphere to the star, meaning that one side would get all the solar radiation from the star - it would have a "hot" side and a "cold" side, both of which would likely be inimical to the development of life. However, few if any scientists address the area of the "terminator" any such planet would have. The terminator is the "twilight zone" between the day side and the night side, an area where temperatures could allow for the formation of life.

Another potential mechanism would be oceanic currents carrying heat from the hot side to the cool side, and carrying water from the cool side to the hot side to maintain equilibrium. That would have the effect of warming the cool side and cooling the hot side continuously. The same sort of heat exchange via current flows would also naturally apply to atmospheric gasses. The combination colud allow for a heat threshold that would allow life to exist, as well as some probably hellacious storms.

Also, since oxygen has not been detected there, then no photosynthesis is occurring. A potential explanation for that would be that the planet is tidally locked, and the hot side is too hot for life to exist, but the cold side is not too cold. So then life would only exist on the cold side, and of course the cold side would be getting little to no solar radiation... therefore, photosynthesis would not develop as a means of economy for that form of life. Something else - hydrothermal vents, for example - would be the driving force powering the life.


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[gortex]

Agree with all you wrote the prospect of discovering another world is tantalizing , further results from Webb will add more pieces to the puzzle but I feel given the planets mass it likely is a water world and the life aquatic , hydro-thermal vents and water worked wonders here.