ARE WE GOING TO SEE LIFE SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN EARTH?
Around 12 light-years away is this exoplanet orbiting it’s own star that caught our astronomer’s eye. Looking into more detail in why this Planet got our astronomer’s interested – we see that this planet is not only earth-sized but also is expected to have a Magnetic Field and an atmosphere like our earth does.
This exoplanet is called YZ Ceti bb, scientists and astronomer’s are having high hopes about finding life on this planet because if this exoplanet is having a Magnetic field, a field that deflects the harmful particles from the star, then the atmosphere is protected and it’s more likely that the conditions there are habitable, which means it is possible that life exists on this planet.
Two astrology enthusiasts from the University of Colorado and Bucknell University, Sebastian Pineda and Jackie Villadsen have made their report stating that during their work they observed a repeating radio signal emanating from the star YZ Ceti.
This observation was made using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. This radio telescope is operated by the US National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Pineda who worked on this explained that life on this exoplanet might be possible if it has magnetic field that is strong enough.
The astronomers hypothesised that the stellar radio waves they discovered were caused by interactions between the planet’s magnetic field and the star it orbited. However, they stated that for such waves to be detected over great distances, they must be extremely powerful.
These researchers also mentioned that previously they have seen such powerful waves from Jupiter-sized exoplanets and this time it is pretty surprising to detect them from a tiny earth-sized exoplanet. They also stated that they are looking for a way to see these invisible magnetic fields.
Looking into details of the exoplanet, it belongs to a small red dwarf planet named YZ Ceti and hence this planet is called YZ Ceti b. This exoplanet and it’s star are very close to each other that the planet orbits around the sun in just two earth days.
The research made also showed that the plasma from YZ Ceti careens off the YZ Ceti b’s magnetic plow, interacting with the stars magnetic field itself. This interaction results in production of radio waves that are strong enough for them to be detected by researchers on the earth.
These emitted radio waves can help us measure the magnetic field of the exoplanet and which might help. Us in knowing if there is life on the planet.
The conditions on this planet are very convenient for our astronomer’s to research on and hence they are much more excited to work on it. Let’s look forward to know more about YZ Ceti b.
