This is according to a draft of an article written by Prof. Avi Leib together with his colleague Laura Kreidberg from Harvard University, which came to the Hidan site. According to Leib, if life is found on the surface of the neighboring planet of the solar system, it is likely that it will exist in an alien strip between the day side and the night side of the planet that is likely to be gravitationally locked.
Prof. Leib: The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to analyze the composition of the atmosphere around Proxima Centauri b
A comprehensive interview of Prof. Live for the website of the scientist: The Israeli astrophysicist's journey to Proxima Centauri
Following last week's important discovery by scientists working at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile of the existence of an Earth-sized planet orbiting the red dwarf Proxima Centauri in the habitable zone, some are calling for resources to be directed to the study of the neighboring solar system.
In a forthcoming paper, astrophysicists Laura Kreidberg and Avi Leib of Harvard University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Institute for Astrophysics write that a recently announced Earth-sized planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri could potentially support life, if it has an atmosphere that supports the existence of liquid water on the surface .
In the abstract of the article, the two write: "We show what should be the thermal graph that the James Webb Space Telescope will observe, and which can be used to detect this type of atmosphere. We predict that the change in the temperature of the surface of the planet being bare rock and the same surface covered by the atmosphere will be expressed in a difference of 35% in the light scattering on the night side of the planet which is known to be gravitationally locked.
"We even calculated that if the planet has an atmosphere similar to that of the Earth, we could detect ozone molecules in the 9.8 µm frequency range, which can be detected by combining observations over several months."
"We have come to the conclusion that the observations of the telescope (which is still under construction AB) will be able to at least delineate the range and calculate the chances of life around the star closest to the Sun. "Prof. Leib was interviewed on the subject for the science website:
When you wrote about the night side did you refer to the fact that it is always the same side? Meaning that the planet is gravitationally locked to Proxima Centauri?
Prof. Leib: "Planets (planets) that are close enough to their parent star always show the same side to the star. The tidal force from the star causes the rotation around the planet's axis to be coordinated with its cyclical motion around the star, since this state represents the minimum energy to which the system aspires. The same mechanism caused the moon to face the earth on the same side permanently."
So how will life exist on his face?
Prof. Leib: "As a result of the locking, the permanent day side of the planet always remains relatively warm relative to the permanent night side. But between the cold and dark side and the warm and bright side there is a ring where the conditions will be favorable for life. In the scientific community there is a debate about the question of whether these conditions allow life. My opinion on this issue is positive because we find life in very extreme conditions on Earth. But the answer will eventually become clear from observational data. In the next decade, we will be able to determine with the help of the new generation of large telescopes whether Proxima's planet has an atmosphere and whether there are signs of life in the molecular composition of its atmosphere."
Have you ever thought the same way about the planet Mercury and it turned out that it is not gravitationally locked to the sun?
"The condition for gravitational locking contains several parameters (in addition to the size of the planet and its distance from the star) one of which is not well known. Therefore, the predictions on this subject are not accurate. In addition, if the planet has a nearby moon, it can lock onto the moon instead of the star."
In conclusion says Prof. Leib, who serves as a consultant for the Breakcthrough Starshot project
: "We live in a scientifically fascinating time, and I hope to be alive when the first spacecraft reaches the planet of Proxima Centauri."
More on the subject on the science website
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Good question, Ben Ner.
Since the star does not rotate and there is no Coriolis effect, the air will not move as it moves in the Earth. It will probably heat up from the center facing the sun, outwards in the radius, towards the buffer areas between the light and dark side, and since the air is hot, it will rise higher than the cold air, so that in the dark area a high layer of hot air and a low layer of cold air will be formed. The hot air will cool over time, and sink down to the center of the planet on the dark side, and push the cold air to the sides towards the buffer areas, and from there towards the light side, where it will heat up and rise up, and God forbid.
To Avi Cohen
From which side of the boundary line between the (permanent) day and the (permanent) night will the wind blow from the dark side to the light side and from which side will the wind blow from the light side to the dark side?
I understand that the creation of hot air in one area, while in another area there is cold air, creates a movement of air from the hot area to the cold, and then the hot air that has moved to the cold area cools, and the cold air that has moved to the hot area heats up, and so again they move from area to area. This will cause the air to always move from side to side, meaning constant storms.
Is there a way to calculate how strong the storms will be there, if there is an atmosphere?