In an effort to find a new home for humanity before the supposed end of the world arrives, scientists have proposed an innovative approach to the search for habitable planets. According to recent research, it is suggested that exploration should be extended to the area between the star and the soot line in planet-forming disks.
This region, known as the dusty disk that surrounds a central star and is responsible for the formation of planets, could host worlds with surfaces rich in volatile carbon compoundsdifferent from those found on Earth, as reported in Week.
The study, led by Ted Bergin, an astronomer at the University of Michigan, and his team of experts in geochemistry, planetary science, astrochemistry, and exoplanets, suggests that these planets could be rich in organic carbon but poor in water.
In the search for planets similar to Earth, interest is not only in those that resemble our planet in appearance, but also in those that were formed through similar processes. Current models of rocky exoplanets are based on Earth-like atmospheric conditions and compositions, including molecules essential for life that form from the building blocks of carbon and water.
These models have focused on areas of planet-forming disks known as ice lines, where water or other key molecules make the transition from gas to solid.
A new planet model
and research team proposes a new model that considers the soot line, an area closest to the central star of the solar system. In this region, the organic compounds in the solids sublime as a gas. The inclusion of this region in the search for habitable planets raises questions about its habitability and the presence of carbon on these planets.
According to Bergin, these findings add a new dimension to the search for habitable planets and open up a world of endless possibilities. Although Earth is poor in water and carbon, theory suggests that its formation within the soot line could explain its lack of carbon.
The research team has modeled the formation of silicate-rich planets with different carbon and water contents in the soot line region, discovering that they could develop a methane-rich atmosphere.
The presence of methane could generate hazes through interactions with stellar radiation, similar to what occurs on Saturn’s moon Titan. These hazes could indicate the presence of volatile carbon in a planet’s mantle and change the way we view a world’s habitability..
If the planets that form within this region have abundant volatile carbon, we could be looking at a common class of hazy planets. with the potential to be considered habitable. These theories open new doors in the search for a new home for humanity before it is too late.