(ORDO NEWS) — A team of astrophysicists at the University of California has found a way to narrow the search for extraterrestrial life.
planets orbiting M-dwarfs without an atmosphere also do not have it, and therefore there is no point in looking for living organisms there..
Such conclusions were reached during the observation of the planet GJ 1252b. Its rotation cycle around the parent star is one Earth day.
It is slightly larger than the Earth and much closer to the sun than our planet is to the Sun, which makes it extremely hot.
The pressure from the star’s radiation is so powerful that it destroyed the atmosphere of GJ 1252b.
Similar processes can be observed on Mercury, but there, elevated temperatures have not yet completely destroyed the atmosphere.
For the study, experts measured the infrared radiation of the planet. It turned out that the daytime temperatures of GJ 1252b reach 1227 degrees Celsius.
The high temperature, combined with the supposed low surface pressure, led researchers to believe that the planet does not have an atmosphere.
Accordingly, the authors propose to exclude such planets from among those where extraterrestrial life should be looked for.
At the same time, scientists believe that planets located at a sufficient distance from the M-dwarf may still have an atmosphere.
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