Universe's first life could have been born on carbon planets

"This paintings shows that even stars with a tiny fraction of the carbon in our solar system can host planets," says lead creator and Harvard university graduate student Natalie Mashian.

"we've correct purpose to accept as true with that alien lifestyles could be carbon-based totally, like lifestyles on the planet, so this additionally bodes properly for the possibility of existence within the early universe," she adds.

The primordial universe consisted in most cases of hydrogen and helium, and lacked chemical elements like carbon and oxygen important for lifestyles as we comprehend it. only after the first stars exploded as supernovae and seeded the second one technology did planet formation and life end up possible.

Mashian and her PhD thesis consultant Avi Loeb (Harvard-Smithsonian middle for Astrophysics) examined a selected class of antique stars known as carbon-more desirable metallic-bad stars, or CEMP stars. these anemic stars include only one hundred-thousandth as much iron as our sun, which means they fashioned earlier than interstellar area have been broadly seeded with heavy elements.

"those stars are fossils from the young universe," explains Loeb. "by using reading them, we will take a look at how planets, and possibly existence within the universe, were given started out."

despite the fact that missing in iron and different heavy factors compared to our sun, CEMP stars have extra carbon than could be anticipated given their age. This relative abundance might affect planet formation as fluffy carbon dust grains clump collectively to shape tar-black worlds.

From a distance, these carbon planets might be tough to tell other than extra Earth-like worlds. Their masses and physical sizes might be comparable. Astronomers would should have a look at their atmospheres for signs in their true nature. Gases like carbon monoxide and methane might envelop these uncommon worlds.

Mashian and Loeb argue that a dedicated look for planets round CEMP stars may be performed the use of the transit approach. "this is a realistic approach for finding out how early planets may additionally have fashioned inside the little one universe," says Loeb.