Astronomers claim to have seen the strongest evidence so far for life on another planet. But other astronomers have urged caution until the findings can be verified by other groups and alternative, non-biological explanations can be ruled out.
“These are the first hints we are seeing of an alien world that is possibly inhabited,” Nikku Madhusudhan at the University of Cambridge told a press conference on 15 March.
Astronomers first discovered the exoplanet K2-18b in 2015, and soon established that it was a promising place to look for life. About eight times as massive as Earth and orbiting a star 124 light years away from us, the planet sits in the habitable zone of its star, where liquid water can exist. Further observations, in 2019, found evidence of water vapour, which led to suggestions that the planet may be covered in oceans sitting under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, though not all astronomers agreed.
Astronomers claim strongest evidence of alien life yet
American Buddhist Net 