A water carrier asteroid suggests the presence of life elsewhere - France Info

Image copyright Mark A. Garlick, space-art.co.uk, University of Warwick and University of Cambridge.

life could be possible on other planets outside our solar system. In any case, it suggests that the discovery of the remains of a large asteroid. Never before we had found together outside our solar system water and a rocky body, the “two key elements” to be a planet space.

look at the sky does not necessarily realize. But the space is filled with stars off. What will happen to our sun in several billion years has already taken place for many stars in our solar system or elsewhere.

But the death of these stars do not necessarily mean that they are devoid of interest: in fact, due to their composition, they provide some understanding of life outside of Earth. Among these, one has particularly attracted the attention of a group of astrophysicists from the University of Warwick, UK.

ALSO READ | Three habitable planets discovered (almost) close to the Earth

P or the first time, the remains of a large asteroid rich in water were discovered in another stellar system . The composition of the star died around this asteroid is the first evidence of an ancient planet composed of water and rock, or the two materials to make a planet habitable.

It is called GD 61

Studies had already been made, and 12 exoplanets destroyed – an exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system – none had shown the presence of water. Warning: this does not mean that this planet that meets the sweet name of GD 61 is habitable. In fact, it no longer exists.

There are still more than a “ dust and debris around the dying star ” (where exoplanet dies, the remains will keep orbiting white dwarfs, stars at the end of life). It is these fragments have been found, traces of water. “ Global cemetery is a rich source of information ,” said Boris Gänsicke one of astrophysicists led to the discovery.

“This planetary cemetery is a rich source of information” (astrophysicist)

Water and rock

from this information, water, therefore, but also magnesium, silicon, iron and oxygen, which are the key ingredients of rocks. “ is to find as much water in such a celestial body large size means that the materials forming habitable planets and such planets themselves have existed or still exist in the system star GD 61 and probably in many other similar systems , “noted Jay Farihi, an astrophysicist at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge.

So what looks like GD 61, on which life would have been possible? In its previous life, she was a little bigger than our sun star. It was a dwarf planet, formed 26% water – for comparison, water is only 0.2% of the mass of the Earth. GD 61 have the same amount of water as Ceres, considered the smallest dwarf planet in the solar system ( below ).

Dwarf Planet Ceres © Kurdistan Planetarium

A

only 170 light-years

GD 61 would be located about 170 light years from Earth (one light year is equivalent to 9.460 billion km). According to these astrophysicists GD 61 has finally exhausted its fuel there 200 million years to become a white dwarf.

200 million years later, at least it gives hope to astrophysicists that life could exist beyond Earth, and elsewhere in our solar system.

ALSO READ | A strange planet discovered alone in space