Despite contradictory statements from UFO eyewitnesses , we have yet to substantiate the comportment of well-informed life beyond Earth . Butastronomerscontinue to dally with that Leslie Townes Hope . The most recent speculation comes from Barnard ’s Star , the second - closest mavin system to Earth , which is circulate by a icy super - Earth dub Barnard ’s Star b. While its surface might be as cold as -274 ° F , there may just be potential for life .
harmonize toCNET , the chilly Barnard ’s Star b — locate 6 wanton long time away from Earth — could still be hospitable to living organisms . astrophysicist at Villanova University speculate the major planet could have a red-hot liquid - iron core that produce geothermal Department of Energy . That warmth might corroborate primitive life under the icy aerofoil . A exchangeable situation could perhaps occur onJupiter ’s moon , Europa , where tidal heat might let for subsurface oceans check know things .
Barnard ’s Star b has a mass just over three time that of Earth . The conclusions about potential life sentence were pull by Villanova researchers from 15 years of photometry test of the solar arrangement [ PDF ] .
“ The most pregnant aspect of the find of Barnard ’s star b is that the two nearest wiz system of rules to the Sun are now fuck to host planet , ” Scott Engle , a Villanova astrophysicist , said in astatement . “ This support previous studies based on Kepler Mission datum , inferring that planet can be very vulgar throughout the galaxy , even keep down in the decade of billions . Also , Barnard ’s Star is about twice as old as the Sun — about 9 billion years one-time compare to 4.6 billion years for the Sun . The universe has been producing Earth - sizing planet far longer than we , or even the Sun itself , have subsist . ”
Scientists go for to learn more about the potential for life on Barnard ’s Star b as raw , more powerfultelescopesare put into use of goods and services . NASA ’s delay James Webb Space Telescope could be one such result . Its 21 - foot mirror — three times the size of theHubble — is set toopenin 2021 .
[ h / tCNET ]
