JWST Detects Possible Signs Of Life On Exoplanet

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope may have discovered tentative evidence of signs of life on a distant planet, as reported by Pallab Ghosh for BBC News.

An artist’s rendering of exoplanet K2-18 b based on scientific data. I Illustration: NASA, CSA, ESA, J. Olmsted (STScI), Science: N. Madhusudhan (Cambridge University)

The telescope may have detected a molecule known as dimethyl sulphide (DMS). On Earth, this molecule is only produced by living organisms.

However, scientists emphasize that the detection on the planet, located 120 light years away, is not yet confirmed, and further data is required, as reported by Robert Lea for Space.com.

In 2016, MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager and her colleagues proposed a list of approximately 14,000 molecules for consideration as potential biosignatures on exoplanets, as detailed by Elise Cutts in Knowable Magazine on September 12.

The scientists also identified methane and CO2 in the planet's atmosphere, indicating the presence of a water ocean on the planet named K2-18b, as reported by Sarah Knapton in The Telegraph.

Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan, an associate professor in Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and the lead author of the paper, stated, "For the first time, we have detected carbon-bearing molecules in the atmosphere of a habitable-zone planet. This is unprecedented. The composition of the atmosphere suggests that, among all the possible explanations, the most plausible one is the existence of an ocean beneath the surface. Obtaining such a composition through other means is highly unlikely."

Madhusudhan is the lead author of the paper describing these findings, which has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, as reported by Jackie Wattles for CNN.

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