• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Nasa discovers 17 planets with 'secret' oceans that may support alien life

Home> Science> Space

Published 11:53 20 Dec 2023 GMT

Nasa discovers 17 planets with 'secret' oceans that may support alien life

These planets could have the potential to host life.

Kerri-Ann Roper

Kerri-Ann Roper

Aliens taking over Earth might be a terrifying thought, but it seems there are 17 planets that might harbor new life.

The 17 exoplanets, which lie outside our solar system, are thought to have icy shells surrounding them and could be hiding flowing water underneath.

Researchers have analyzed these planets and published their findings in The Astrophysical Journal, in an entry with the title Prospects for Cryovolcanic Activity on Cold Ocean Planets.

Illustration of Upsilon Andromedae b, an exoplanet in the Andromeda constellation, not necessarily referenced in the journal, but used for illustration.
Nicholas Forder/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Advert

And the discovery could be promising in seeing if there are signs of life or alien lifeforms beyond our solar system.

With climate change affecting Earth, perhaps these exoplanets could be our new home.

However, you may need to wrap up warm as exoplanets are much colder than Earth.

The researchers wrote: "We have estimated total internal heating rates and depths to possible subsurface oceans for 17 planets that may be cold ocean planets, low-mass exoplanets with equilibrium surface temperatures and/or densities that are consistent with icy surfaces and a substantial H2O content.

Advert

The entry adds: "Like the icy moons in our outer solar system, cold ocean planets may be astrobiologically significant worlds that harbor habitable environments beneath their icy surfaces."

What makes them so cold is that the stars the exoplanets orbit do not provide as much heat as we get from the sun.

Instead, the study suggests the planets receive heat from an internal process.

While the prospect of alien life might be terrifying, it is important to note that just because a planet has water, it cannot necessarily support life.

Advert

Changes in the atmosphere and the distance a planet is from the star it orbits can impact the chances of alien life being present.

Researchers are hopeful this study could provide helpful insight into life beyond Earth.

“If the solar system is any guide, habitable exomoons with subsurface oceans could also be plentiful in our galaxy,” the researchers wrote.

“Therefore, establishing the prospects for geological activity that would facilitate the cycling of water, energy, and organics in exoplanets themselves represents an important avenue for understanding the astrobiological significance of the expected diverse array of ocean worlds in our galaxy.”

Advert

Maybe we aren’t the only ones floating through space.

Featured Image Credit: Credit: Nazarii Neshcherenskyi / Apostoli Rossella / Getty
Nasa
Science
Space
Aliens

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • NASA reveals groundbreaking new telescope could detect alien life within 'hours'
  • Frightening reason we might find alien life in '2,334 days' on Europa
  • ‘Alien’ spotted onboard ISS as SpaceX crew docks to rescue NASA astronauts
  • Scientist claims NASA might have accidentally killed life on Mars after we landed in the 1970s

Choose your content:

an hour ago
18 hours ago
19 hours ago
20 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Psychologist reveals simple everyday act that can has power to completely change your relationship

    Experts believe this mundane chore could be the key to keeping your relationship happy

    Science
  • 18 hours ago

    Scientist made shock admission ahead of NASA mission to asteroid 'worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000'

    It's not what most people want to hear

    Science
  • 19 hours ago

    Ozempic users share shocking ‘Ozempic sex’ side effect that not many people know about

    It's not just your wasitline that could be shrinking

    Science
  • 20 hours ago

    Solar panels illegal in 49 states could transform energy for the USA

    A YouTuber showed how the solar panels can be plugged into a home outlet

    Science