Scientists believe that continents appeared on many planets in our galaxy billions of years ago. More advanced life may exist here.
The authors of a new study believe that continents appeared on at least two planets in the Milky Way 5 billion years before Earth. Scientists also believe that on such planets, where such ancient continent formation took place, life may be more advanced than on Earth. Live Science writes that the results of the study were published in the American Astronomical Society Research Notes.
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As scientists now believe, for life to appear on the planet, we need an atmosphere that protects it from harmful radiation, oxygen and liquid water in it. However, large land masses or continents are needed for life to develop.
Important
Continents form as a result of plate tectonics, that is, the movement of lithospheric plates moving through the molten interior of the planet. The heat from the planet’s core prevents the magma from hardening and plate movement continues. This heat from deep within the planet comes from the decay of radioactive elements such as uranium-238, thorium-232 and potassium-40.
Many of these elements come from supernova explosions or neutron star collisions. The presence of these elements can be detected by analyzing the light emitted by a particular star.
Scientists used data on levels of uranium-238 and potassium-40 in nearby stars, as well as data on the ages of these stars, to understand when rocky planets in these systems might have begun to form continents.
Scientists have discovered that on rocky planets orbiting Sun-like stars and located an average of 20 light-years away from us, the first continents may have appeared 2 billion earlier than on Earth. But on planets located between 70 and 110 light-years away from us and stars orbiting slightly smaller than the Sun, continents may appear 5 billion earlier than on Earth.
Scientists believe that much older and more advanced life may exist on these planets than on Earth. Scientists say this is because these planets have a longer history, during which time life has had more time to evolve and develop.
To clarify the data obtained, more careful observations are needed, which, firstly, should confirm the existence of such ancient continents on other planets, and secondly, find out whether they are actually inhabited.
Focus I have already written that scientists showed a new photo of the Earth obtained from space with a device that studies the radiation belts of our planet.
As I already wrote FocusAstronomers have revealed a stunning new image of a massive galaxy cluster revealing monster stars.
Moreover Focus He wrote that astronomers have discovered a very distant galaxy, in the formation of which the main role was played not by darkness, but by ordinary matter, which contradicts the theories.
Source: Focus
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