NASA Study: 17 Exoplanets May Have Ice And Geiser Oceans

Illustration of exoplanet portraits (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA The latest study from the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) Science Team revealed that around 17 exoplanets have oceans of water under the ice surface.

Interestingly, their findings also suggest that this water can come out of the ice crust and emerge as a geiser or burst of hot springs. From these findings, it is possible that the 17 exoplanets are habitable.

"Our analysis estimates that these 17 worlds may have ice-covered surfaces, but receive sufficient internal heating from the decay of radioactive elements and tidal forces from their parent stars to defend the oceans inside," said NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center researcher, Dr. Lynnae Quick.

All of these exoplanets are Earth-sized in size, but their rock density is not like Earth. It is possible that these 17 planets outside the solar system have denser ice compared to the amount of rock.

To support this ice density theory, NASA's science team researched a number of closest exoplanets on Earth, namely Proxima Centauri b, LHS 1140 b, and MOA 2007 BLG 192Lb, with data approaches from Europa, Jupiter's moon, and Enceladus, Saturn's moon.

The results show that the ice shell thickness at Proxima Centauri b may range from 58 meters, 1.6 kilometers for LHS 1140 b, and 38.6 kilometers for MOA 2007 BLG 192Lb. Estimates of its geiser activity are also expected to increase quite significantly on the three planets.

"Our model estimates that oceans can be found relatively close to the surfaces of Proxima Centauri b and LHS 1140 b, and the rate of geiser activity can exceed hundreds to thousands of times the geiser activity at Europa," Quick said.

Meanwhile, the number of geiser activities varied so that NASA's science team concluded a cryovolcano eruption. If this is true, there is a possibility that the water in the 17 exoplanets contains other elements and compounds that support the forerunners of life.