Find a scary planet that could have life

(NLDO) - Some planets that scientists previously considered "hell" could be potential worlds for life.

According to Sci-News , a new study led by Professor Caroline Dorn from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) shows that super-Earths with giant magma oceans and extremely humid atmospheres are actually potential habitable planets that we have overlooked.

Super-Earths covered by magma oceans could be future habitable worlds - AI illustration: Anh Thu

Astrobiological studies often look for life on worlds with temperate environments, somewhat similar to Earth.

Therefore, planets covered by magma oceans or planets where mass and density measurements show a very high water content are often overlooked.

As many previous studies have shown, water is necessary for life, but too much water - for example in ocean worlds - inhibits the ability of life to arise and evolve.

But a paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy suggests that "ocean planets" may have surface water similar to Earth's, because a large amount of water has been absorbed into the core.

Their magma oceans are similar to those of the early Earth, and water dissolves very well in these magma oceans.

They also have iron cores, which take time to develop, as a large part of the original iron is also trapped in the magma.

It is this iron that combines with water molecules, pulling them down to the core over time.

Some of Earth's water is also hidden in the core that way. With larger planets—super-Earths that are about six times the mass of Earth or more—water is more likely to be hidden in the core.

In certain cases, iron can absorb up to 70 times more water than silicate.

So finding a planet that measurements show has a high proportion of water does not mean that water is all over its surface.

And if that planet's crust could cool and solidify like Earth's billions of years ago, water dissolved in the magma ocean could degas and rise to the surface in the process.

In other words, some seemingly hellish super-Earths are actually just undergoing planetary evolution similar to our world during the Hadean eon, when the original fireball gradually cooled and became habitable.

Therefore, the authors conclude that even planets with relatively high water content have the potential to develop Earth-like living conditions.

Thus, giant, relatively "old" ocean worlds like Earth could be the next target in the hunt for alien life.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tim-ra-hanh-tinh-dang-so-co-the-co-su-song-19624082508030504.htm