No planet has captured the minds and imagination of scientists around the world more than exoplanet Kepler 452-B. This planet has sparked conversations surrounding the idea that perhaps we aren’t alone in the Universe after all! What makes Kepler 452-B so fascinating is that it orbits a Sun-like star in what is considered the “habitable zone,” where life could theoretically sustain and thrive in existence.
How Was Kepler 452-B Discovered?
The Kepler Space Telescope was launched by NASA back in 2009. Since then, it has discovered and confirmed over 2,600 exoplanets. Exoplanets are planets, just like those right here in our own Solar System, that orbit other stars throughout the Milky Way. Many of the discovered planets exist in the habitable zone and could potentially harbor life.
The Kepler telescope works by pointing itself at a particular part of the Milky Way and collecting data on the precise location for a length of time. Kepler is equipped with sensors that monitor how bright stars appear. With the capability to analyze over 150,000 stars simultaneously, Kepler is hoping to observe a dip in the brightness of stars. This intensity dip is a good indicator that a planet is orbiting the star, temporarily blocking part of the light from reaching Kepler’s sensors.
Larger exoplanets are easier for Kepler to detect, as the more significant the mass that transits in front of the star will dim the apparent brightness more than planets of smaller sizes. To date, Kepler 452-B is the smallest exoplanet discovered. With a mass 3.29 times the size of Earth, this exoplanet is classified as being a “super-Earth.”
About 1,400 light years from Earth, a Sun-like star in the Cygnus constellation is home to what scientists refer to as “Earth’s Cousin” or “Earth 2.0”. This extraordinary planet is nonother than Kepler 452-B and was first observed in 2015. It orbits its star as one of seven planets in its solar system that have also been discovered thanks to the Kepler space mission.
The Conditions On Kepler 452-B
This exoplanet, as discussed above, exists in the habitable zone. This goldilocks zone is a place where scientists believe liquid water would be able to exist. All life on Earth requires liquid water to be present. Scientists often assume that life elsewhere in the cosmos would require similar and favorable conditions for life to spring into existence and thrive.
The surface temperature on the planet ranges from -14.6°C to 18.0°C (7 – 64 °F). These temperatures would allow for liquid water to be present on the planet’s surface. As a rock-type planet, just like Earth, Kepler 452-B may appear very similar to Earth in appearance. Its temperate weather conditions would be somewhat identical to what we have on our own planet.
Another contributing factor determining if scientists deem a planet habitable is the conditions due to solar radiation. Too much solar radiation would be a detriment to the existence of any life. However, on Kepler 452-B, there is even less solar radiation than what we receive here on Earth!
This exoplanet’s star is classified as the same type of star as our own Sun, and Kepler 452-B orbits at a near identical distance from its star as we orbit our own Sun. If you were on Kepler 452-B, it would take you 385 Earth days to orbit your star- that’s only a little longer than here on Earth. These eerie familiarities give scientists great reason to study this planet more.
Due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Kepler 452-B, there is an immense interest in discovering if the planet has an atmosphere. Scientists frequently speculate that the potential atmosphere is similar to that here on Earth. With the prospect for liquid water to exist on its surface, there is a possibility it harbors an atmosphere much as we have here at home on our own planet. These favorable conditions on Kepler 452-B all point to the possibility of life existing on it.
SETI And The Possibility of Life forms on Kepler 452-B
Thanks to Kepler 452-B’s favorable conditions for life, the question in everyone’s mind is whether or not aliens live there. A team of scientists at the SETI Institute is dedicated to answering this particular question. The SETI Institute’s main mission is the search and exploration of extraterrestrial intelligence.
SETI attempts to accomplish this goal by aiming radio telescopes at targeted star systems. Scientists there are listening carefully for any possible radio wave anomalies to be detected. If discovered, this could be a signal of an alien civilization advanced enough to communicate via radio wave signals.
The endeavor of finding such life on Kepler 452-B by encountering radio transmissions sent from the planet was conducted by SETI back in 2015. Using 42 different radio antennae to detect such transmissions, SETI has shared they have not yet detected any signals that would prompt them to believe alien life exists on the planet.
Despite no radio signals being detected, this is certainly not a good indicator of deciding whether or not life exists on the planet. If there is intelligent life on the planet, they may not communicate using technologies akin to what we possess on Earth or are more advanced in their use of communication technologies.
Another possibility for why we do not detect radio waves from Kepler 452-B is that life on the planet has chosen not to be seen via such sources. They may have communicatively decided it would not be in the planet’s best interest to have signals being broadcast out into space- alerting other intelligent life forms of their existence. By remaining off the radio communication pathways of space, Kepler 452-B radio silence is an attempt at preservation and protection from other intelligent life forms which may not have the planet’s best interest at heart.
Intelligent life on Kepler 452-B
The first thing many people ask themselves when they think about intelligent life beyond Earth is whether or not it exists. Some people are likely to jump to the conclusion that due to the sheer vastness of space, surely some other intelligent life exists beyond Earth.
An essential factor to consider is defining intelligence. Most people would not consider an alien life form that behaves like a fungus to be “intelligent.” Therefore, it is incredibly important for those interested in the topic of exploring the idea of intelligent life throughout the cosmos to determine precisely what would make a civilization on another planet “intelligent.”
Many scientists who study the possibility and probability of life on other planets and moons, often referred to as Astrobiology, have agreed that the use of communication is a necessary marker for intelligence. For lifeforms on another planet or moon to be deemed as “intelligent,” it is then required that they are able to have some way to communicate with each other. While it is likely that this would not look at all like it appears on Earth, scientists agree that the ability to share ideas and learn from one another is a crucial factor in becoming an “intelligent” species.
The other contributing factor to being determined as an “intelligent” species would require that they have the capability to harness technology. Scientists have agreed that the ability to harness technology to the point they can utilize radio waves would be an indicator of an intelligent race of lifeforms.
Advanced Life Forms on Kepler 452-B
Advanced life forms may exist on Kepler 452-B but perhaps are not as smart as scientists would determine as being “intelligent”. By the set of standards set forth by these scientists, humans would not have been considered an intelligent race before the year 1895. It was during this year that the first radio waves were intentionally sent on Earth by Guglielmo Marconi.
Not much time, especially considering the cosmic scale that is time, has lapsed since those first radio waves were broadcasted on Earth. Our advancement in such an extraordinarily short period of time encourages us to consider that advanced life forms, not just “intelligent” life, are worth discovering.
It would be naive to imagine that life on Kepler 452-B would appear human-like or even similar to the drawings of aliens we have here on Earth. Currently, all life that we are aware of is carbon-based life. Carbon is the backbone of every biological structure we have ever encountered. However, there is another possibility of a different type of life beyond just carbon-based life.
The idea of silicon-based life is not a new one. In fact, scientists are often puzzled as to why life on Earth is carbon-based when there is actually more silicon present on the planet than carbon. Silicon is also present in vastly more quantities throughout space than carbon, and both are very stable elements that bond well together.
If Kepler 452-B is comprised of materials similar to Earth, then life on the planet may actually be silicon-based. If this were the case, it would be so unlike anything we have ever encountered, it would be difficult for us to imagine what lifeforms may actually look like.
Another factor to consider about what life may look like on Kepler 452-B is to note how old the planet itself is. Kepler 452-B is, by our best estimates, 6 billion years old. This is much older than the Earth, which is only 4.5 billion years old. Life first arose on Earth around 3.7 million years ago. If life arose on Kepler 452-B in a similar time frame as Earth, this would mean life is incredibly older than on our own planet.
Considering the possibility that life has existed for a much more extended period of time on Kepler 452-B than here on Earth, then it would be natural to ponder how evolutionary processes on the planet may have transpired. If these evolutionary processes followed a similar path on 452-B as they have here on Earth, it would mean life forms on the planet would be much more advanced than what we have here.
Given the planet’s age, any possible life would have had an incredibly long length of time to harness and utilize technology to benefit its species. If their evolutionary path followed anything similar to that here on Earth, they are literally millions of years ahead of humans in their technological capabilities. It could be speculated that these intelligent life forms could harness the power of their parent star, voyage throughout the cosmos, and complete other feats that we here on Earth could not begin to phantom.
Conclusion
It would be a notable moment in human history to discover any life that exists beyond Earth. To date, no such discovery has been made on any planet, moon, or other cosmic objects. Despite this, humankind’s desire to prove it does not exist alone encourages us to continue searching for life in the Cosmos.
Kepler 452-B has offered the opportunity to let our minds run rampant with ideas as to what life may be like on the planet. With its strikingly similar orbit, size, parent star, temperature, and other features- this exoplanet is the first of its kind to be discovered.
If life is ever discovered on Kepler 452-B, it will prove to the world not only that we are not alone, but also there is more life in the Universe than we ever dreamed possible. To discover such a planet in such a relatively short amount of time since looking would indicate that there are a vast amount of such worlds and that life thrives throughout the cosmos.
Perhaps the most notable feature of Kepler 452-B is its ability to inspire both awe and curiosity about the Universe. As our search continues to discover Earth-like planets that could host life, humanity will likely always relate it back to history’s first experience with finding out other possibly habitable planets do exist. This notion furthers our greatest ambition and helps propel the continued quest for the discovery of intelligent life in the Universe.
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References
IOP Science: Climate and Habitability of Kepler 452-B
JPL NASA: Kepler Exoplanet Mission
Space.com : NASA’s Planet-Hunter Kepler Telescope Explained
NASA: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth
SETI Institute: SETI In The News
SETI Institute: SETI Targets Kepler 452-B
Discover Magazine: Our Radio Waves Have Now Reached 75 Star Systems
NBC News: Silicon-Based Life May Be More Than Just Science Fiction
NASA: Exoplanet Catalogue Kepler 452-B
Natural History: History of Life