Astronomers were the first to determine the presence of an atmosphere in an Earth-like exoplanet. The object is called "Gliese 1132b" (GJ 1132b) and is located about 39 light years from us in the constellation Sails. This is the first time that scientists have managed to find the atmosphere of a planet with a mass and radius similar to that of the Earth. New data opens up a prospect in the search for the possibility of life on this planet.
“While this is not the discovery of extraterrestrial life, it is not an important step in the right direction. Determining the presence of an atmosphere in the "super-earth" GJ 1132b is the first case of detecting the atmosphere of a terrestrial planet, if you do not take into account the Earth itself, "said lead researcher John Southworth of the University of Keele in England.
Scientists still have a lot to learn about GJ 1132b's atmosphere, but early observations hint that the planet could be a "watery world with a hot vapor atmosphere," a place to try your luck in your search for life.
In fact, not much is known about the GJ 1132b plan. For example, scientists have found that it has a mass that is about 1.6 times the mass of the Earth. Moreover, its radius is about 1.4 times larger than that of the Earth. According to exoplanet classification, such characteristics make GJ 1132b very similar to our own world. Scientists say that they are not yet ready to provide the public with more detailed data about the planet and say how exactly GJ 1132b may look like Earth and whether it can really be habitable. Doubt about the latter, in particular, is caused by the approximate calculated temperature indicators on its surface - 370 degrees Celsius. In other words, if there is life there, then it is unlikely to be similar to ours.
In the end, do not forget about the story with the "sister of the solar system" TRAPPIST-1, promising, but hasty conclusions about which begin to dissipate like morning fog. In fact, it turned out that the system is most likely dead and consists of completely lifeless worlds, however, like the previously discovered planet Proxima b. True, here it is worth noting that, unlike GJ 1132b, scientists have yet to determine the presence or absence of an atmosphere in these planets, as well as its likely composition.
Right now, the main strategy for astronomers when looking for life on other planets is the presence (or absence) of the possibility of compiling a chemical picture of the composition of the atmosphere of these planets and further searching for a chemical imbalance that could at least indirectly hint at the likelihood of the presence of living organisms. For our Earth, for example, one of the most important defining facts in favor of the presence of life is the presence of oxygen in its atmosphere.
Of course, we have not yet "matured" to the possibility of such a level of analysis of the planet GJ 1132b, but the fact of determining the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system is in itself a significant step forward.
Other facts about the GJ 1132b can be counted on one hand. We know that the planet orbits the red dwarf Gliese 1132, which Southworth and his team surveyed with the ESO / MPG telescope in Chile. Every 1.6 days, astronomers noted short-term decreases in the brightness of the star in seven bands of light waves when GJ1132b passed opposite it. This allowed scientists to make some assumptions about the size and composition of the planet. To the surprise of the scientific team, when observing the object in one of the infrared wavelength ranges, the planet appeared larger than it actually is. This may indicate that the object has an atmosphere impervious to these wavelengths.
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Based on the collected data, astronomers created several possible models of the atmosphere for Gliese 1132b and found that the presence of water and methane in the atmosphere could explain what astronomers observed in the infrared range. At the same time, it should be noted that the only exoplanets in which it was possible to determine the presence of the atmosphere before were the planets more than 8 times larger than the Earth in both mass and size. In most cases, these were ordinary gas giants, similar to our Jupiter.
“With this research, we actually took it to the next level and for the first time began to study the atmosphere of a smaller planet, more similar to our Earth,” notes Southworth.
"Yes, Gliese 1132b is significantly hotter and slightly larger than Earth, but there is a possibility that this world has water and an atmosphere of hot steam."
The class of the star around which GJ 1132b orbits also makes the planet interesting to explore. The star of the system is a low-mass red dwarf. These stars are very common in the Universe and very often small planets are found near them. The problem is that this type of star also has a fiery temperament - flares on their surface are very frequent, if not common. According to earlier studies, as a result of such massive outbreaks, nothing of the atmosphere of the planets may eventually remain. Nevertheless, the same studies also spoke in favor of the fact that the atmosphere of some planets (if it is dense enough) could withstand such a bombardment for billions of years.
"The presence in the universe of a huge number of stars and planets with low mass may hint that such conditions may also be suitable for the existence of life," - say the researchers.
We still don't know much about the planet GJ 1132b, but there is no doubt that we will be able to hear more information about it soon. Its discovery has become one of the most important for astronomers in recent years, and further study of this world is one of the priorities. The planet will continue to be monitored with the Hubble telescope and the ground-based VLT telescope, and then the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be launched next year, should join the observations.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK