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An artist concept of a planet covered with water. New research suggests that these worlds may be more likely to support life than thought.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Even on extraterrestrial water-covered worlds, a new study shows that life has a chance to survive for a long time – despite previous research showing that this is unlikely.
Previous research has indicated that these so-called "water worlds" could be hostile to life as they would not allow cycles of minerals and gases to stabilize the climate on Earth. A new study, however, shows that oceanic planets could withstand the habitability for a long time after their formation, even if it depends on the planet.
Scientists have found thousands of exoplanets over the past two decades, a good percentage of which were rocky and in the "habitable zone" of their parent stars, where water could exist on the surface of the planet . However, scientists are still unsure of all the conditions of habitability, because until now we know only one world with life: the Earth. [10 Exoplanets That Just Might Support Life]
On Earth, scientists often turn to our own climate to better understand how planets in general could maintain their stable conditions for millions or billions of years, long enough for life to reach a standstill, according to a statement. Our planet heats up by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, through the volcanoes, and then cools by dissolving these gases into minerals in the crust.
The new research, based on more than 1,000 simulations of exoplanets in training, suggests that aquatic worlds may be habitable if they meet certain conditions, the researchers said in the statement. Specifically, these planets should have a certain amount of carbon – the element on which rests the life of the Earth. The exoplanet would need a lot of water early in its training and the opportunity to recycle carbon between the atmosphere and the ocean to stabilize the system.
In addition, the exoplanet's crust should retain its original elements and minerals, instead of having these minerals and elements dissolved in the ocean and extracting carbon from the atmosphere.
"This really thwarts the idea that you need a terrestrial clone, that is, a planet with an ocean and shallow ocean," said lead author Edwin Kite, geophysicist at the University of Chicago.
While they were performing simulations for planets around sun-like stars, Kite said that research also leads to optimism for red dwarf stars – another hotspot for looking for life . This is because the simulation only took light in a star, which in theory would also be provided by a red dwarf.
The red dwarfs are weaker than our own sun, but if the planets are close enough to the star, they could theoretically have water on their surface and fulfill the conditions of habitability. However, these stars are also extremely variable and could send deadly radiation to their planets.
The new research was detailed on August 31 in The Astrophysical Journal.
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