Nasa discovers 17 planets with ‘secret’ oceans that may be hiding alien life – but they have a big difference to Earth
NASA has identified 17 planets that potentially have subsurface oceans.
That means they could have water covered by large frozen surfaces.
It’s thought planets like this could have the potential to harbor life.
Even if a planet has water, it doesn’t necessarily mean it can support life.
Factors like distance from the star it orbits and the atmosphere can also affect the chances of alien lifeforms being present.
The 17 exoplanets, meaning a planet outside our solar system, are all thought to have icy shells that could be hiding flowing water.
A recent study published in The Astrophysical Journey details how researchers have newly analyzed the planets.
The researchers wrote: “We have estimated total internal heating rates and depths to possible subsurface oceans for 17 planets that may be cold ocean planets, low-mass exoplanets with equilibrium surface temperatures and/or densities that are consistent with icy surfaces and a substantial H2O content.”
Adding: “Like the icy moons in our outer solar system, cold ocean planets may be astrobiologically significant worlds that harbor habitable environments beneath their icy surfaces.”
The researchers think the planets are promising places to look for chemical signs of life.
A big difference between all the exoplanets in the study and Earth is that they’re much colder.
The host stars they orbit do not provide as much heat as we get from the Sun.
It’s thought the planets are receiving internal heat from processes happening within.
Lynnae Quick of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center explained in a statement: “Our analyses predict that these 17 worlds may have ice-covered surfaces but receive enough internal heating from the decay of radioactive elements and tidal forces from their host stars to maintain internal oceans.”
It’s also though scientists may be able to observe cryovolcanic activity on the planet.
The planets already have names like Proxima Cen b and LHS 1140 b.
Those two are the top candidates for scientists to use a telescope to observe cryovolcanic activity.
It’s hoped this kind of activity could produce chemical signatures that might indicate life.