The artist’s impression of the planet Trappist-1E
NASA/jpl-caltech
There are promising signs that one of the planets in the Trappist-1 STAR system, which is about 40 light-years from Earth, has an atmosphere able to support life. But scientists will need to be photographed more than 15 times to make sure.
Trappist-1 is a small red dwarf star with at least seven planets. It was discovered in 2016 and immediately became a target for astronomers in the hope of discovering life outside the earth because three of its planets are located in the so -called so -called Goldilocks area Where the water remains liquid.
Ryan McDonald At St. Andrews University, the United Kingdom, TRAPPIST-1 says it causes a great deal of excitement among astronomers after discovering it. However, the subsequent photography of three external planets, including two of the three inside the Goldilocks area, left the field disappointed when no atmosphere was discovered about any of them. But he and his colleagues have long focused on Trappist-1E, in the middle of Goldilocks, and now they believe they have a reason for optimism.
McDonald and his colleagues have used the James Web Telescope for a Trapppt-1E examination in 2023 and have been working since then to extract a better image of the world. Astronomers collect information about whether remote external planets have an atmosphere by taking pictures of the world as they passed in front of their star. The analysis of the exact adjustments in the light of the stars can reveal the chemicals in any atmosphere – and whether it includes those that may be favorable to life.
But since Trappist-1 is a red dwarf, it is cooler than our sun, which makes readings more complicated. For example, chemicals such as water that can indicate that the hospitable atmosphere is already present in the star itself, which means that the signatures of the Trapping-1E atmosphere should have been dismantled from the effects of the Trappist-1 light that were lighting through. This is a student of new models and years of work. The initial results are now and indicate that Trapping-1E has a life-friendly atmosphere, and it may be an important moment in the search for life that is suitable for life outside the ground.
“It seems that there are some bumps and confusion in the data that, based on our air modeling, is perfectly suitable for a nitrogen -rich atmosphere, and perhaps with molecules like methane,” says McDonald. “Of all the spectra we have obtained so far from the planets in the Trappist-1 system, this is the most promising spectra, and this indicates that there is something likely to be there. It is clear, I hope the planet will be in the middle of the area suitable for this star with an atmosphere, because that will have incredible effects on astronomy, and we search for life.”
McDonald says that if there is an atmosphere rich in nitrogen with subsequent data, the next step is to search for gases such as methane or carbon dioxide and work using climate models, so what is likely that the temperature is on the surface and whether this will allow liquid water-which will raise the opportunities of the planet that can be able to host its age.
But researchers stress that data and models at this stage cannot fully exclude that Trapping-1E is a nude rock-there is a need for more data. To date, they have data from four JWST notes, but during the next near, they hope to implement 15 others. “We need to reduce error tapes,” McDonald says.
Matthew Jindy Imperial College London says there is no shortage of discovering external planets, but astronomers are keen to find any conditions for life.
“The real complexity is that you may be the right distance from the sun, but if you have a wrong atmosphere, you can be a hot hole like Venus or you can be the frozen cold Mars,” says Jing. “Astronomers are looking at many different external planets, and we will soon face one or one with a rich in nitrogen/oxygen. It may be the only way you can get an atmosphere rich in oxygen with plants, with optical representation.”
“if [TRAPPIST-1e] “The good good for housing, just imagine what has happened on this planet over the past 7.6 billion years. The greater the planet is, the more likely to say it is for the development of intelligence already,” says Jing.
McDonald believes that by 2060, we are likely to discover many planets as it is difficult to explain the data without life – but this is far from proving the existence of life outside the planet. He says, “We are skeptical handful.”