The search for a habitable world like ours, outside the Solar System we inhabit, will not stop for scientists. The universe is vast and billions of stars have planets, in many cases rocky, that could support the development of life as we know it.
The discovery of exoplanets is not something so old for astronomy. In fact, it was in 1995 that the first one was detected. And although barely 28 years have passed, much progress has been made in this type of research.
A recent discovery offers a tool to take exoplanet research up a notch. Finding worlds with water will be easier now. That is what the authors of the study say, noting that perhaps in many of the detected worlds there was already water and without this new data they had ignored this important element.
According to a report from Europe Pressthe discovery was made by a scientific team led by Dr. Lujendra Ojha, from Rutgers University, in the United States.
What does the generalized concept of this scientist say? That even when there are no chemical elements in the atmospheres of the planets that indicate the presence of water, it cannot be ruled out that the vital liquid does not exist below its surface.
“We know that the presence of liquid water is essential for life. Our work shows that this water can be found in places we hadn’t taken much into account. This considerably increases the chances of finding environments in which, in theory, life could develop,” said the expert at a geochemistry conference held in Lyon, France.
Scientists argue that, even if the surface is frozen, gravitational processes, which go hand in hand with the radiation from its massive stars, could generate enough temperature to melt the subterranean ice and cause the presence of vast seas or rivers in the depths of the Earth. extensive blocks of glaciers.
In his explanation, Dr. Ojha says that this is already happening on Earth, with liquid water below polar areas in Canada, to give one of several examples.
Another of the examples that appear in the expert’s explanation is what happens with icy worlds such as the moons of Saturn and Jupiter: this pair of gas giants have such an influence on Enceladus, Europa (the natural satellite) or Io, which is theorized to have liquid water inside.
So the science team develops a new model that “given the right conditions, could approximate (find) one planet (with water) per star. Therefore, the chances of finding liquid water are a hundred times greater than we thought. There are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. That represents really good odds for the origin of life elsewhere in the universe.”