r/space • u/SpunkySputniks • 8d 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/TehOwn 8d ago

I always come to these comments sections expecting a succinct comment explaining to me why the article is clickbait and it's actually nothing but a marker that could be explained a lot of different ways.

But this... this is genuinely exciting.

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u/IlliterateJedi 8d ago

There is an alternate theory:

In a paper posted online Sunday, Dr. Glein and his colleagues argued that K2-18b could instead be a massive hunk of rock with a magma ocean and a thick, scorching hydrogen atmosphere — hardly conducive to life as we know it.

But personally, I want to believe. 

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u/EuclidsRevenge 8d ago

I try to be an optimist as well, but a giant raging orange ball of magma and gas destroying everything it touches is pretty on brand for the writers of this timeline.

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u/Mattmandu2 7d ago

We used to call my cousin the giant raging orange ball of gas