The New ‘Hycean’ Exoplanet Could be the Solution for Mankind

The search for a new habitat, a new environment hospitable for humans, has been on a wide platform. However, the search is always towards an environment that is not simply hospitable by resembles that of Earth.

However, changing the ideology, a new type of exoplanet was identified by astronomers at the University of Cambridge. The recent exoplanet identified is relatively different from Earth, and yet it is studied to support life. The planet is called “Hycean” referring to a world that is surrounded by an ocean with an atmosphere consisting of an abundance of hydrogen.

The researchers state that this form of a plant could be common in space. As these entities pose a habitable atmosphere, it aggravates the possibilities to locate life outside our solar system.The “Hycean” class of new planets has excavated a whole new avenue for the search of life elsewhere, explained the lead researcher, Nikku Madhusudhan.The characteristics of these planets differ substantially from Earth. They are 2.6 times larger in size than that of Earth and can be hotter.

This is primarily because of the extensive temperature range reaching up to 200 degrees Celsius. Despite the elevated temperatures, the vast oceans are considered to host microbial life, as per an earlier study on a large exoplanet rich in hydrogen.This study showed signs that such planets probably house liquid water on the surface underneath the atmosphere. If such as scenario prevails for the Hycean planets as well, in that case, the habitable zone could be relatively larger.