!A new study indicates the possibility of the existence of entire watery worlds for the planets of our galaxy
A new discovery of exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars indicates the possibility of entire watery worlds of wet planets made up of 50 percent water.
Not all of this water is in the form of oceans and rivers, but scientists expect that most of it is water mixed with minerals and stored in the ground or in the atmosphere. Regardless, the discovery is a good indication of the possibility of life outside the solar system.
Astronomer Rafael Luque from the University of Chicago says it has been surprising to see evidence of the possible existence of watery worlds for planets orbiting the most common types of stars in the Milky Way.
Although these stars are small and cannot be seen with the naked eye, they are abundant in our galaxy. They are red, small, cool and dark stars about half the size of the Sun.
These stars' low association rate has enabled them to age for huge periods. With the universe being just 13.8 billion years old, we don't have enough time to witness the full life cycle of a red star, which is about 100 billion years old.
Red dwarfs make up about 73 percent of the stars in our galaxy. Just think about that. When you're relaxing on your rooftop stargazing in the sky or staring at your car seat at night, you don't see most of the stars, just 27 percent of them. And the rest remains little red stars ! that you can't see in the sky
Detecting exoplanets belonging to red stars is challenging for scientists. Only a small percentage of the estimated 4,085 planets have been discovered outside red stars. But scientists are working on developing and equipping the necessary equipment, to be able to discover many of these small worlds that surround red stars.
There are two main signs that scientists look for when searching for a new exoplanet. The first is the usual faint light that the planet emits when it passes between us and the young star.
The second sign is the long and short wavelengths emitted by the star due to the faint magnetic attraction of the exoplanet as it rotates.
If you have these signs and know how far away the star is and the size of the light it emits, you can measure the size and diameter of its outer planet, which is what leads scientists to know the density of the planet. From it we can identify many of its characteristics, planets with a low density, for example, have a large atmosphere as a giant gas planet. As for the planets with high densities, they are rocky planets like our planet and Mars.
With the help of his fellow Spanish astronomy researchers, Locke led an important paper studying the density of forty-three exoplanets belonging to red stars.
In addition to rocky planets and gaseous planets with a thick atmosphere, the search resulted in the discovery of a third type of planet with a medium density that does not qualify it to join one of the two categories, but rather constitutes a new and unique category.
Some scientists have suggested that these planets were mixed with other lighter materials during their formation, such as water, for example, but this guess is as tempting as it is to discover seas and oceans within the Milky Way, but it is highly unlikely. If the water has already entered the formation of these planets, it will rise into the atmosphere, forming gases and dust that reduce the density of the planet.
However, these planets may resemble other things in the solar system, such as Jupiter's moon Ganymede, which is half made of water and half of rock, or our moon, but in a more wetter and watery form mixed with minerals and glass.
If this is the case, it is likely that these planets did not form in their positions, but rather formed away from the rocks and snow in space and then migrated and took their current positions.
Research and studies are still going on about this interesting discovery, and the space universe continues to surprise us every day with its amazing secrets.
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