Copyright The Times 090925
Planet close to Earth may have oceans for life
A planet only 40 light years away from Earth may have an atmosphere, which means it may have oceans of water on its surface, the James Webb Space Telescope has found.
The Trappist system, which has a red dwarf star at its heart, has three Earthsized planets that orbit, as the Earth does around the sun, in the habitable zone of their star where the temperature is right for water to be liquid.
One of the planets, Trappist-1e, is considered likely to have liquid water on its surface, but only if it has an atmosphere to act as a protective blanket. The initial results from the telescope include the presence of an atmosphere as one of the possible interpretations, but it is not conclusive.
Dr Ryan MacDonald, of the University of St Andrews, said: “The most exciting possibility is that Trappist-1e could have a so-called secondary atmosphere containing heavy gases like nitrogen.”
Scientists believe it is extremely unlikely that Earth is the only place in the universe where life has developed. They are scouring the cosmos for signs of “biomarkers”, combinations of gases and compounds that may provide the tell-tale sign of living organisms.
