Scientists say aliens may have more homes than we thought

There may be more planets that are home to Earth alien A new study suggests there’s more to it than we thought.

Over the years, the scientist Search for life in “habitable” or “habitable” zones – places that are neither too hot nor too cold for liquids water. These worlds have been at the center of our search for alien life because we believe liquid water is necessary to make planets habitable.

Many of the planets we have discovered in other solar systems do not meet this criterion. This means that researchers believe that many of the worlds we discover may not be suitable for alien life.

Now, however, new research suggests the standards may be too stringent. There may be other worlds that allow for liquid water, but we ignore what it implies.

New research suggests that on a tidally locked planet – where one side of the world is always facing the star and the other is always at night – heat could circulate around the planet enough to produce liquid water. It uses a model to understand how the climate would work on such a planet.

Research shows that heat will radiate from the day side of the Earth, keeping the night side above freezing. Therefore, the number of possible habitable environments may be greater than we realize.

This could mean that some of the planets recently discovered by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that appear to contain water vapor and other volatile gases may actually be within the safe range for water to exist on their surfaces.

The work also suggests that planets thought to be at the other extreme – too far away to have liquid water – may actually be habitable. On these planets, liquid water may be stored between thick layers of ice, meaning there may be more worlds that could be home to alien life.

The work is reported in a new paper, “Exoplanets beyond the conservative habitable zone.” I. Livability,” published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal.