Earth-like planets may form even in harsh environments, James Webb Space Telescope finds

[Admin]

The James Webb Space Telescope has found water and organic carbon molecules in the vicinity of a massive, active young star.

Earth-like planets may form even in harsh environments, James Webb Space Telescope finds : Read more

 

[rod]

"The findings suggest habitable planets could possibly form close to giant, active young stars."...Located some 5,500 light-years from Earth, NGC 6357 is one of the closest regions to us in which we see massive stars currently forming."...
The planet forming disk in question, officially designated as XUE-1, surrounds a star about as big as our sun. But that star’s much larger, and more vicious, siblings are not far away. Prior to the deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers could only peer into planet-forming disks located much closer to Earth than XUE-1, which means this disk is now the most distant ever studied in such a detail. Moreover, none of the nearby, previously studied disks live in a cluster containing stars as young, or as massive, as those in NGC 6357."

My note. Interesting report and how possible earth-like exoplanets could form near massive stars or perhaps near a solar mass star that is in an open cluster with nearby massive stars. The Orion nebula contains the Trapezium but I have not seen reports indicating earth-like exoplanets are forming there only about 1300 light-years away. The exoplanet sites already show some exoplanets documented at large massive stars. Some examples:

V921 Sco b, orbiting a 20 solar mass star, see the exoplanet.eu site. https://exoplanet.eu/catalog/v921_sco_b--7107/

HD 96127 b, 10.94 solar mass host star (nasa exoplanet archive site). https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/overview/HD 96127 b#planet_HD-96127-b_collapsible

 

[ImmortalMelvz]

Good find, we are going to populate every habitable exoplanet present in the Milky Way galaxy & other galaxies.

 

[jamestmallow]

Good find, we are going to populate every habitable exoplanet present in the Milky Way galaxy & other galaxies.

Or not. It would take 1000s of yrs just to reach our nearest neighbor. Also, the term "habitable" only means there is potential for liquid water. Venus and Mars are in the habitable zone.

 

[Helio]

Or not. It would take 1000s of yrs just to reach our nearest neighbor. Also, the term "habitable" only means there is potential for liquid water. Venus and Mars are in the habitable zone.

I don't see how discovering important ingredients for an Earth-like planet can warrant an argument for habitability. It takes more than ingredients to bake a cake. Nevertheless, finding ingredients is very important. So that's great.

There isn't great accuracy in defining a planets habitable zone since only broad strokes are available to science, though smaller brushes are coming to paint better pictures.

I'm aware of four methods to calculate a HZ. Below is a table made using those methods. I don't favor the "Equilibrium Temp." method all that much, however. They do seem to make sense for our solar system, but we know their albedos so we can place them better in our HZ.

The values in the table are the respective location of each in the HZ. A zero percent would place it at the inner edge (hot) of the HZ. A 100% would place it on the outer edge (cold) of the HZ.

A much broader HZ has been introduced to allow for far greater wiggle room. The extended HZ is known as the "0ptimistic" range. I do think that, as you mention, Venus and Mars are likely within this optimistic range, which is not shown in the table.

 

[jamestmallow]

I don't see how discovering important ingredients for an Earth-like planet can warrant an argument for habitability. It takes more than ingredients to bake a cake. Nevertheless, finding ingredients is very important. So that's great.

There isn't great accuracy in defining a planets habitable zone since only broad strokes are available to science, though smaller brushes are coming to paint better pictures.

I'm aware of four methods to calculate a HZ. Below is a table made using those methods. I don't favor the "Equilibrium Temp." method all that much, however. They do seem to make sense for our solar system, but we know their albedos so we can place them better in our HZ.

The values in the table are the respective location of each in the HZ. A zero percent would place it at the inner edge (hot) of the HZ. A 100% would place it on the outer edge (cold) of the HZ.

A much broader HZ has been introduced to allow for far greater wiggle room. The extended HZ is known as the "0ptimistic" range. I do think that, as you mention, Venus and Mars are likely within this optimistic range, which is not shown in the table.

Also of note is how Earth seems to have a climate stabilizing feedback mechanism. That should extend it's habitability time frame. Dead worlds like Mars lack such.

 

[Helio]

Also of note is how Earth seems to have a climate stabilizing feedback mechanism. That should extend it's habitability time frame. Dead worlds like Mars lack such.

Yes, and there are many other factors including magnetic field strengths that may require us knowing in order to refine the real chances for life out there.

We are in the pioneering age at this point, but it's really impressive to see how far we've come since discovering the first exoplanet less than 3 decades ago.

 

[billslugg]

The Earth's magnetic field intensity has decreased 15% over the last 100 years. It does some amount of shielding from solar particles and cosmic radiation. I don't know if this might affect climate.

 

[Helio]

The Earth's magnetic field intensity has decreased 15% over the last 100 years. It does some amount of shielding from solar particles and cosmic radiation. I don't know if this might affect climate.

We seem to be learning that shielding is even more important than earlier assumed. No doubt, it plays a role, but it's too early to say for sure. Atmospheric striping, for instance, of unshielded planets like Mars could be a big deal, but if so, how do we explain Venus? More questions than answers.

 

[billslugg]

Venus has no intrinsic magnetic field. It has an induced field due to solar ions interacting with upper atmosphere. There is also a lot of stripping going on. The induced magnetic field strength is a miniscule 0.000015 that of Earth. Venus has no convection inside, no plate tectonics. I'll guess it is still outgassing enough to maintain an atmosphere.

 

[rod]

It is interesting to me that I periodically see and report (edit, read) various reports that proclaim some type of earth-like exoplanet could form here, there or some other places like near O and B stars or perhaps we have an abundance of earth-like exoplanets documented in their habitable zones. Then I run across reports like this where the exoplanet formation models like core accretion or gravity instability are challenged. Still waiting to see confirmation of abiogenesis somewhere in the galaxy here or in our solar system too.

Discovery of planet too big for its sun throws off solar system formation models

The discovery of a planet that is far too massive for its sun is calling into question what was previously understood about the formation of planets and their solar systems, according to Penn State researchers.

phys.org

ref - A low-mass star with a large-mass planet, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl3365, 30-Nov-2023.

ref - A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models, 30-Nov-2023.

 

[Helio]

Venus has no intrinsic magnetic field. It has an induced field due to solar ions interacting with upper atmosphere. There is also a lot of stripping going on. The induced magnetic field strength is a miniscule 0.000015 that of Earth. Venus has no convection inside, no plate tectonics. I'll guess it is still outgassing enough to maintain an atmosphere.

Right, given the lack of a magnetic shield for protection, one would think that after billions of years and being much more exposed to solar flux, then it too would have a much smaller atmosphere. I recall reading that there the verdict is undecided as to just how much solar flux has impacted Mars' atmosphere.

 

[Helio]

It is interesting to me that I periodically see and report (edit, read) various reports that proclaim some type of earth-like exoplanet could form here, there or some other places like near O and B stars or perhaps we have an abundance of earth-like exoplanets documented in their habitable zones. Then I run across reports like this where the exoplanet formation models like core accretion or gravity instability are challenged. Still waiting to see confirmation of abiogenesis somewhere in the galaxy here or in our solar system too.

Discovery of planet too big for its sun throws off solar system formation models

The discovery of a planet that is far too massive for its sun is calling into question what was previously understood about the formation of planets and their solar systems, according to Penn State researchers.

phys.org

ref - A low-mass star with a large-mass planet, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl3365, 30-Nov-2023.

ref - A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models, 30-Nov-2023.

My cursory look at this has me puzzled why a large planet around a red dwarf is problematic? A large fraction of stars are binaries, almost half, and I think this is true for red dwarfs as well. So if other stars can form from the same embryonic cloud and become gravitationally entwined, then why not a lesser "star" (i.e. planet)? Migration explains proximity.

 

[rod]

My cursory look at this has me puzzled why a large planet around a red dwarf is problematic? A large fraction of stars are binaries, almost half, and I think this is true for red dwarfs as well. So if other stars can form from the same embryonic cloud and become gravitationally entwined, then why not a lesser "star" (i.e. planet)? Migration explains proximity.

Interesting view, something apparently missed by the research paper cited for the solution I checked the exoplanet.eu site, there are 87 exoplanets shown orbiting stars < 0.13 solar masses. Trappist-1 system is a good example, very different than this report for a small star. Quite a variety in the 87 shown.

 

[rod]

Here is another interesting report on habitable exoplanets, where dinosaur type creatures may be living on them.

Real-life 'Jurassic World' may exist, just on another planet

A new study suggests that the search for alien life could lead to the discovery of planets that harbor species similar to the dinosaurs that once roamed our own planet.

www.foxnews.com

"A new study argues that a real-life "Jurassic World" could currently exist, just on another planet. Planets far away from Earth could be harboring species that resemble Earth's dinosaurs and humans may currently have the ability to find them, according to a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal."

We have other reports out that indicate molecular clouds in the MW could have material for life and others indicating there indeed may be life in those gas clouds too. Why not exoplanets fit and filled with dinosaurs?

 

[rod]

Life as we know it may have its roots in an old, cold cosmic cloud

The discovery is another step along the road to showing that the stuff of life originally came to Earth from space. Life as we know it may have its roots in an old, cold cosmic cloud : Read more

forums.space.com

The search for life beyond Earth is getting very interesting.

 

[ImmortalMelvz]

Anything is possible nowadays so conquering the Universe for man to become immortal is a primary option!