A short jump into space, away from the Earth - and you will find yourself on a terrestrial planet in orbit of the star, Proxima Centauri, closest to the Sun. Since the discovery of this exoplanet - Proxima Centauri b - in 2016, people have been confused as to whether this planet can support life.
Now, using computer models similar to those used to study climate change on Earth, scientists have found that, under a wide range of conditions, Proxima Centauri b can support vast areas of liquid water on its surface, potentially enhancing the prospects for sustaining living organisms.
Is there life on Proxima Centauri b?
“The main takeaway from our models is that there is a high probability that this planet could be habitable,” says Anthony Del Genio, planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Research Institute. Del Genio is also the lead author of a paper describing the new study, which appeared on September 5 in the journal Astrobiology.
Proxima Centauri is a small, cool red dwarf star located just 4.2 light years from the Sun. Despite the proximity of the star, scientists still know very little about the companion planet Proxima Centauri, although it has a mass of about 1.3 Earths and it completes its orbit in 11 days. Therefore, Del Genio and his colleagues had to make assumptions that the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b is - more specifically, its atmosphere and ocean.
Proxima Centauri b orbits in a potentially habitable zone, that is, at the correct distance to receive suitable starlight and so that water on the planet's surface does not evaporate, but also does not freeze. However, in this case, this zone is "too close to the star." Therefore, the planet is most likely tidally blocked by gravitational forces. Proxima Centauri b always faces its parent star, as the Moon faces Earth.
New models have shown that the planet has a living, circulating ocean that efficiently transfers heat from one side of the exoplanet to the other. According to scientists, the movement of the atmosphere and ocean is combined, so that "although the night side never sees the light of the stars, there is always a strip of liquid water that persists in the equatorial region." And the larger the part of the planet with liquid water, the higher the likelihood that, if there is life, we will prove its existence with future telescopes.
Promotional video:
Ilya Khel
