{"id":28374,"date":"2025-05-23T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=28374"},"modified":"2025-05-23T07:26:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:26:06","slug":"theres-probably-no-life-on-k2-18b-after-all-three-studies-conclude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=28374","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s Probably No Life on K2-18b After All, Three Studies Conclude"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In April, astronomers said they had detected a possible signature of life on the exoplanet K2-18b. Now, three independent analyses discount the evidence.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

In April, a team of astronomers announced that they might \u2014 just might \u2014 have found signs of life on a planet<\/a> over 120 light-years from Earth. The mere possibility of extraterrestrial life was enough to attract attention<\/a> worldwide<\/a>. It also attracted intense scrutiny from other astronomers.<\/p>\n

Over the past month, researchers have independently analyzed the data, which suggested that the planet, called K2-18b, has a molecule in its atmosphere that could have been created by living organisms. Three<\/a> different<\/a> analyses<\/a> have all reached the same conclusion: They see no compelling evidence for life on K2-18b.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe claim just absolutely vanishes,\u201d said Luis Welbanks, an astronomer at Arizona State University and an author of one of the studies.<\/p>\n

The debate has less to do with the existence of alien life than with the challenge of observing distant planets. We can see a nearby planet like Jupiter because it reflects enough sunlight to become visible to the naked eye. But a planet like K2-18b is so far away that it becomes invisible not just to the naked eye but to conventional telescopes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Astronomers have devised a series of increasingly sophisticated tricks to glean information about distant planets. They can measure the wobble of stars and the gravity of planets orbiting them. In 2010, researchers caught a glimpse<\/a> of GJ 1214b, a planet 48 light-years away, as it passed in front of the star it orbits. When the star\u2019s light shined through the planet\u2019s atmosphere, certain wavelengths were absorbed indicating that GJ 1214b might have an atmosphere rich in water vapor.<\/p>\n

In 2022, astronomers began using a powerful new tool to peer at distant planets this way. They pointed the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a> at faraway solar systems and began detecting exquisitely faint patterns in starlight, clues to the complexity of exoplanet atmospheres.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n

Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In April, astronomers said they had detected a possible signature of life on the exoplanet K2-18b. Now, three independent analyses discount the evidence.In April, a team of astronomers announced that they might \u2014 just might \u2014 have found signs of life on a planet over 120 light-years from Earth. The mere possibility of extraterrestrial life was enough to attract attention worldwide. It also attracted intense scrutiny from other astronomers.Over the past month, researchers have independently analyzed the data, which suggested that the planet, called K2-18b, has a molecule in its atmosphere that could have been created by living organisms. Three different analyses have all reached the same conclusion: They see no compelling evidence for life on K2-18b.\u201cThe claim just absolutely vanishes,\u201d said Luis Welbanks, an astronomer at Arizona State University and an author of one of the studies.The debate has less to do with the existence of alien life than with the challenge of observing distant planets. We can see a nearby planet like Jupiter because it reflects enough sunlight to become visible to the naked eye. But a planet like K2-18b is so far away that it becomes invisible not just to the naked eye but to conventional telescopes.Astronomers have devised a series of increasingly sophisticated tricks to glean information about distant planets. They can measure the wobble of stars and the gravity of planets orbiting them. In 2010, researchers caught a glimpse of GJ 1214b, a planet 48 light-years away, as it passed in front of the star it orbits. When the star\u2019s light shined through the planet\u2019s atmosphere, certain wavelengths were absorbed indicating that GJ 1214b might have an atmosphere rich in water vapor.In 2022, astronomers began using a powerful new tool to peer at distant planets this way. They pointed the James Webb Space Telescope at faraway solar systems and began detecting exquisitely faint patterns in starlight, clues to the complexity of exoplanet atmospheres.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28376,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28374"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28377,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28374\/revisions\/28377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}