Proxima b, the closest alien planet we know, may be even more Earth-like than we thought

[Admin]

The closest alien planet to our solar system is even more Earth-like than scientists had thought, new observations suggest.

Proxima b, the closest alien planet we know, may be even more Earth-like than we thought : Read more

 

[rod]

FYI. Proxima b has been in the news a number of times. Here is a statement indicating the host star likely produces 400x more flares on the planet than our Sun does on Earth. ESPRESSO confirms the presence of an Earth around the nearest star, "Although Proxima b is about 20 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, it receives comparable energy, so that its surface temperature could mean that water (if there is any) is in liquid form in places and might, therefore, harbour life. Having said that, although Proxima b is an ideal candidate for biomarker research, there is still a long way to go before we can suggest that life has been able to develop on its surface. In fact, the Proxima star is an active red dwarf that bombards its planet with X rays, receiving about 400 times more than the Earth. "Is there an atmosphere that protects the planet from these deadly rays?" says Christophe Lovis, a researcher in UNIGE's Astronomy Department and responsible for ESPRESSO's scientific performance and data processing. "And if this atmosphere exists, does it contain the chemical elements that promote the development of life (oxygen, for example)? How long have these favourable conditions existed? We're going to tackle all these questions, especially with the help of future instruments like the RISTRETTO spectrometer, which we're going to build specially to detect the light emitted by Proxima b, and HIRES, which will be installed on the future ELT 39 m giant telescope that the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is building in Chile."

http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/proxima_centauri_b/ shows the surface temperature is 216K, -57C. Very cold

 

[ChrisA]

Oxygen in the atmosphere is NOT needed to promote life. The Earth did not have oxygen in its atmosphere until about 1.5 billion years AFTER life got started. Life did just fine with a CO2 atmosphere for over a billion years.

In fact, biologists refer to the development of plants as "The Oxygen Catastrophe" These new organisms called "plants gave off a poison gas call oxygen that killed most (yes most) existing life. We descended from those few who could tolerate this new poison. Later animals evolved to make use of this very reactive gas but O2 came later and life had to adapt.

A planet does NOT need a protective atmosphere for life. Life can live 100 feet underground in aquafers ad use chemical energy. It wil not be as energetic are we are but still life.

My guess is that almost all life in the universe is anaerobic bacteria that lives underground.

 

[rod]

FYI. This exoplanet site shows Proxima b surface temperature may be 234 K or -39C,

 

[rod]

Oops, here is the link, https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.calte...w?objname=Proxima+Cen+b&type=CONFIRMED_PLANET

Today we have two very good exoplanet sites that I use and review regularly. http://exoplanet.eu/ and https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/index.html

exoplanet.eu shows 4266 confirmed exoplanets, exoplanetarchive site shows 4158. None are reported as showing life of any kind exist on them, surface, in the atmosphere if they have an atmosphere, or below the surface. None are listed as confirmed with life presently. Based upon the scientific method, the Earth has life and a fossil record. The experiments of Louis Pasteur show the fossil record is a record of biogenesis at work throughout Earth history (Precambrian, Cambrian explosion, Cenozoic) that also features massive death and extinction too. The plant record in the fossil record is a good example of biogenesis at work and massive burial processes at work and death too.

 

[scott]

In my opinion with these planets being so close to their host star, They are All Tidally locked like our moon one side facing the star all the time. With this being the case and as we know the Eartg creates its Much Needed Van Allen Belt of protection from Sun by Rotating with an Iron core that is Molten. Without spin no Electromagnetism and Planet gets destroyed by Radiation Everytime.

 

[Lovethrust]

In my opinion with these planets being so close to their host star, They are All Tidally locked like our moon one side facing the star all the time. With this being the case and as we know the Eartg creates its Much Needed Van Allen Belt of protection from Sun by Rotating with an Iron core that is Molten. Without spin no Electromagnetism and Planet gets destroyed by Radiation Everytime.

I take it you are talking about life and not the planet itself. Even if true (which though seemingly probable is by no means certain) this would still not rule out oceans full of life or land life adapted to extreme radiation.

 

[Freetoffee]

Oxygen in the atmosphere is NOT needed to promote life. The Earth did not have oxygen in its atmosphere until about 1.5 billion years AFTER life got started. Life did just fine with a CO2 atmosphere for over a billion years.

In fact, biologists refer to the development of plants as "The Oxygen Catastrophe" These new organisms called "plants gave off a poison gas call oxygen that killed most (yes most) existing life. We descended from those few who could tolerate this new poison. Later animals evolved to make use of this very reactive gas but O2 came later and life had to adapt.

A planet does NOT need a protective atmosphere for life. Life can live 100 feet underground in aquafers ad use chemical energy. It wil not be as energetic are we are but still life.

My guess is that almost all life in the universe is anaerobic bacteria that lives underground.

Alot of it is that a high oxygen atmosphere suggests there is life on that planet, as oxygen is reactive and rarely stays as O2 for long, so its unlikely O2 would exist naturally in a planets atmosphere. Plus, Oxygen allows for the development of multicelluar energetic life forms. There are a few other chemicals that could serve as an oxidiser for multicelluar life, and none are as common and easy for life to produce as O2.

 

[Freetoffee]

FYI. This exoplanet site shows Proxima b surface temperature may be 234 K or -39C,

That's what it would be without an atmosphere or salt water oceans.