Planet may have life... 1,400 light years away

A SUPER-EARTH 1,400 light years away has emerged as the exoplanet most likely of any known to support alien life.

Kepler 452b, discovered in 2015, lies in the middle of a newly identified “abiogenesis zone” where the right conditions exist for life to be spawned by starlight and chemistry.

The planet, which has a radius 1.5 times that of Earth, also orbits inside the “habitable” or “Goldilocks” zone with temperatures not too hot and not too cold to permit liquid surface water.

Almost 4,000 planets have now been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun. Of these, only about 50 are known to occupy their star’s habitable zone.

However, just one – Kepler 452b – also falls inside the abiogenesis zone.

A planet in the abiogenesis zone is bathed in the right level and type of ultraviolet radiation from its star to kick-start chemical reactions thought to have given birth to life on Earth.

Scientists at Cambridge University coined the term after conducting a series of laboratory experiments mimicking the creation of life’s building blocks.

A leading theory for the way life began on Earth is that it emerged from chemical reactions involving hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphite, powered by sunlight.

Lead scientist Dr Paul Rimmer, from Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, said: “This work allows us to narrow down the best places to search for life. It brings us just a little bit closer to addressing whether we are alone in the universe.”