Scientists Suggest Closest Exoplanet to Earth May Sustain Life
September 13, 2018 (sputniknews.com)
• After studying eighteen computer simulations, scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City have determined that the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b, which orbits the closest star to the sun, has enormous seas of liquid water on its surface that may harbor living organisms according to research published by the journal Astrobiology.
• Anthony Del Genio, a planetary scientist at the Goddard institute, said, “The major message from our [computer] simulations is that there’s a decent chance that the planet [Proxima Centauri b] would be habitable.”
• Proxima Centauri b was discovered in 2016 and has a mass that is at least 1.3 times that of Earth.
US scientists have found that the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b, which orbits the closest star to the sun, may harbor living organisms thanks to enormous seas of liquid water on its surface, according to research published by the journal Astrobiology.
“The major message from our [computer] simulations is that there’s a decent chance that the planet [Proxima Centauri b] would be habitable,” Anthony Del Genio, a planetary scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, pointed out.
He explained that the team of scientists conducted a total of 18 separate computer simulation scenarios, and that in almost all of them, Proxima Centauri b was seen having an open ocean which persisted over at least some part of the exoplanet’s surface.
“The larger the proportion of the planet with liquid water, the better the odds are that if there’s life there; we can find evidence of that life with future telescopes,” Del Genio noted.
His remarks came amid astronomers’ efforts to find out more about Proxima Centauri b, which was discovered in 2016 and has a mass that is at least 1.3 times that of Earth.
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Anthony Del Genio, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA, Proxima Centauri b
