According to astronomers at Cambridge University, life outside our solar system can be found in a few years, thanks to the discovery of a new class of super-hot, Earth-like planets.
Cambridge researchers have identified a new class of exoplanets, called Hicean planets, which, like Earth, are covered in oceans and have hydrogen-rich atmospheres, an essential element for life. Many of the planets are “bigger and hotter than Earth,” up to 2.6 times larger than our planet, and reach atmospheric temperatures of up to nearly 200 degrees Celsius or 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hiceans are further classified as “dark” or “cold,” with dark worlds that have only habitable conditions on their permanent nocturnal sides, and cold worlds that receive only a little radiation from orbiting stars. But researchers believe they could support microbial life forms similar to those found in the Earth’s extreme aquatic environments, and that hyacinth planets are probably common throughout space.
“It is exciting that habitable conditions may exist on planets so different from Earth,” study co-author Anjali Piette said in a statement.
Researchers say their findings, published Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal, indicate that it is possible to discover life outside our solar system over the next few years.
“Hicean planets open a new path in our search for life elsewhere,” said Nikku Madhusudhan, principal investigator at the Cambridge Institute for Astronomy.
Exoplanets (planets orbiting a star other than the sun in our solar system) were first identified almost 30 years ago. Thousands of these planets have been discovered since then and most are between the size of Earth and Neptune. They are often called “super-Lands“o”mini-Neptunes“and range from most rocks to ice covers.
In 2019, the Madhusudhan team released observations of a mini-Neptune, called K2-18b, and found that, along with similar planets, it could sustain life under certain conditions. They believe that the planet and others may harbor certain biosignatures, including oxygen, ozone, methane, and nitrous oxide, that are found on Earth.
“Essentially, when we’ve been looking for these various molecular signatures, we’ve focused on Earth-like planets, which is a reasonable place to start,” Madhusudhan said. “But we believe that the Hycean planets offer more chances of finding various traces of biosignatures.”
“A biosignature detection would transform our understanding of life in the universe,” he continued. “We need to be open about where we hope to find life and what form that life might take, as nature continues to amaze us in often unimaginable ways.”
The researchers believe that these biosignatures can be detected by spectroscopic observations. The researchers said that several Hycean worlds could be studied with a next-generation telescope, such as the James Webb Space Telescope. released this year.