Methane in the planet's atmosphere could be a sign of life if non-biological sources are ruled out, said
This discovery is especially important because methane is one of the few potential signs of life, or biosignals, that can be easily detected with the James Webb telescope.
Oxygen is often talked about as one of the best biosignatures, but it's hard to detect.
Maggie Thompson, PhD student in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Despite early research on methane as asign of life, scientists did not have the assessment of planetary conditions needed to conclude whether its presence is associated with potential extraterrestrial life or not.
The authors of the new work considered variousnon-biological sources of methane, as well as assessed how active they are and whether they can create an atmosphere rich in this gas. These include volcanoes, reactions at mid-ocean ridges, hydrothermal vents, tectonic subduction zones, and comet or asteroid impacts.
Methane is called a biosignal because it is unstable in the atmosphere and must be constantly maintained.
The study stresses that it is necessary to consider all information about the planet before drawing conclusions about the potential presence of life.The authors concluded that for a rocky planet orbiting a star like the sun, the presence of methane in the atmosphere is a biosignal.Provided that there is also carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and there is more methane than carbon monoxide.The last conjunction on the list is formed when volcanoes are actively erupting on the planet.
A single molecule won't give you an answer – you have to take into account all the data about the planet.
Maggie Thompson, PhD student in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Read more:
The “fifth element” exists: a new experiment will confirm that information is material
Found the remains of political refugees from the Middle Ages: they were considered victims of the plague
Marine fungus recycles plastic in two weeks