NASA scientist explains how oceans of alien worlds can answer if we're 'alone'

Several planets out there in the universe, that have been discovered in the last few years, are completely different from our planet, which has an armour of an atmosphere that helps life survive and thrive. However, there is one aspect where several exoplanets and even Moons of certain planets share a similarity to the Earth - oceans.

Years of discoveries have confirmed that the Earth is not the only planet harboring oceans and these characteristics of the alien planets have prompted scientists to question if life is possible in places other than our planet. NASA scientist Lucas Paganini has shared light on the subject in a short video clip shared by the agency on Thursday, December 9. 

Oceans of alien worlds will answer if we are alone in the universe

Answering if Earth is the only world with oceans, Paganini said that the case is otherwise as the ocean worlds appear to be fairly common in our galaxy. He explained that the element water came into existence after the formation of hydrogen following the big bang and its combination with oxygen that was created by nuclear reactions in stars. Adding to his statement, the scientist said-

There are huge amounts of water in our universe and it’s abundant in planetary systems forming around other stars but mostly in the form of gas. 

Although this doesn’t mean that some planets do not have oceans containing liquid water and to find such places, we do not need to look beyond our solar system. Paganini said that the observational data have hinted at the presence of oceans with kilometers of depth in some of the Icy Moons of planets like Jupiter and Saturn. "We have examples in our solar system. We believe that certain icy Moons may actually harbour kilometres-thick oceans underneath their icy surfaces. And we’re quite confident that… Jupiter’s Moon Europa or Saturn’s Moon Enceladus and maybe some dwarf planets have liquid oceans", he said.

Explaining how the interest in ocean worlds of other planets would help, Paganini said that water is the building block of life and hence has potential for life. Moreover, he added that the study of ocean worlds is a quest to answer the simple yet significant question, "Are we alone?".

Image: NASA