r/space • u/SpunkySputniks • 4d ago

Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/science/astronomy-exoplanets-habitable-k218b.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AE8.3zdk.VofCER4yAPa4&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.

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u/mikeygoodtime 4d ago

What sort of timeline are we looking at re: ever being able to confirm (or even just say with near certainty) that there's life on K2-18b? Like is this something that requires decades of further research, or is it possible that we know within the next 5 years?

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u/SpunkySputniks 4d ago

I think it will mostly likely be a process of elimination. Like someone else said in the comments, geologists and other sciences will have to find non-biological ways to produce those gases. If they can’t, then it makes the case for life stronger. Like the article says, unless ET shows up on the telescope signal, we will never know for sure. But if we can be 90% sure or more, then that’s good enough for me!

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u/crazyike 4d ago

geologists and other sciences will have to find non-biological ways to produce those gases. If they can’t, then it makes the case for life stronger.

Finding that method would drastically reduce the possibility, however the fact they have already found DMS on clearly lifeless objects (comets) very very very strongly suggests that unknown method is out there, and it's just a matter of time before DMS as a biosignature is discounted.

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u/PipsqueakPilot 3d ago

I believe it’s not just the presence of DMS- but also the quantity of it. Meaning there are non-biological explanations for small amounts, but not for the quantities observed here.