I received an e -mail from Mia Holland, an editor of one German public broadcast outletThose tick videos checks their truth and action against the distribution of disinformation and fake news on social media.
Mia stated: “I am currently working on a Tiktok video on the Proxima B exoplanet. videoit is said That light slate from Proxima B seems to pulsate regularly and can therefore indicate a technological civilization. We know that Proxima B is in the habitable zone and that the planet is exposed to torches of his hostess, Proxima Centauri. But whether the explanation for the claimed “light pulses” of the Tiktokmaker is true remains unclear. While you have investigated this planet, we are convinced that you are the right person to contact our series of questions. “
Below are the questions from Mia and my answers among each of them:
1. What kind of exoplanet is Proxima B and how earth-like is it?
Proxima B is a rocky planet with a mass slightly larger (with at least 7%) than that of the earth. It is located in the habitable zone of the nearest star of the sun, Proxima Centauri. This means that if Proxima B has an atmosphere, the liquid water could have on the surface, so that the chemistry of life as we know. The star is weaker than the sun with a factor of 640 and the planet is 20 times closer than the earth is at the sun, with an orbital period of 11.2 days instead of a year.
If there are intelligent beings on Proxima B, they celebrate their birthdays every 1.6 weeks. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star with 12% of the mass of the sun. The frequent torches and the wind could have stripped the atmosphere of Proxima B and sterilized the planet. It is unclear whether dwarf stars, which are much more abundant than the sun, can cherish life on planets in the neighborhood. We live next to a rarer quiet star like the sun, possibly for a good reason.
2. Is it correct that a “constant, vague glow” can be seen on Proxima B, which “regularly pulses”, as the maker claims in the video?
It is known that Proxima Centauri often flares up. A recent study with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (Alma) found Proxima Centauri to brighten up time intervals as short as seconds and years.
Just like with the sun, these torches are probably accompanied by feathers of hot gas that can clash with the planet, Proxima B, and carefully brightens it up. In addition, surface topography and spatial variations in geological composition can also introduce the reflection of starlight of the surface of the planet modulate and short-term variability. Better spectral data from the Webb telescope and on the ground-based telescope can clarify the origin of the observed variability of glow of Proxima B.
3. Can stellar torches explain the claim of the maker of pulsating light to Proxima B?
It is most likely that the pulsations are of natural origin, because the torches of Proxima Centauri modulate the stellar wind that influences the planet on time scales as short as seconds. The interaction would depend on whether the planet has a magnetosphere like the earth. We do not know whether Proxima B has an atmosphere or a magnetic field.
About five years ago I wrote one paper With my summer trainee, Elisa Tabor, about the detectability of city lights of Proxima b. However, possible natural interpretations for detected variability must first be considered.
4. Proxima B is located in the habitable zone. How likely is it that complex life on earth exists there?
We do not know whether Proxima B is currently housing a complex life. We must look for better evidence to find out. Science is work in progress. We acquire new knowledge by collecting evidence from our telescopes, not based on opinions or suspicions.
5. Is it safe to say that complex life on Proxima B is impossible?
Living on Proxima B is possible. We could possibly send a probe that will land on Proxima B to find out. With existing chemical propulsion, the Proxima B probe could reach in 50,000 years and to inform us if there is life. The mission requires patience because the timetable is comparable to the time that has passed, because people left Africa.
If we develop faster propulsion in the next 50 millennia, we could send probes that would catch up with older ones and come earlier. The information about the findings of the probes takes 4.25 years to reach us at the speed of light. The probe must be equipped with artificial intelligence and acting autonomously, because it takes 8.5 years for a return dialog with the speed limit of light.
The lack of evidence for complex life is not evidence for the absence of complex life on Proxima B. Complex forms of life can come and go, interrupted by catastrophes, such as a gigantic flare of the hostess, an asteroid impact or a nearby stellar explosion.
The idea of fluctuations around a zero signal extends wider. In another e -mail I was asked: “Is the concept of zero an adequate representation of” nothing “, or has zero more meaning than just the absence of quantity? Is it possible to quantify” nothing “without unintentionally introducing a form of existence?”
I explained that zero in quantum mechanics or statistical physics can define the typical state of a quantity that fluctuates. For example, the vacuum in quantum mechanics cannot have energy density, but it fluctuates and makes virtual particles that appear and disappear. These particles can materialize in the presence of an electrical field, which leads to the phenomena of vacuum polarization, making electrons-positron pair or the Casimir effect between performing plates.
In the same way, complex life had materialized several times on each exoplanet several times, where the most common state is a rock without technological signals.
