By Sian Kanjirathingal

Alien life is a big topic between scientists and journalists. Many people think we won’t have a chance in finding any life in the universe but the truth is that there should be. The chance and probability of alien life expectancy is too high. There are many planets that are in the habitable zone and humans have even discovered land and water – Yes! Water! – on those exoplanets. One of Jupiter’s many moons, Europa has a thick layer of ice on its surface. Scientists found out that under this thick ice, there is an extremely deep layer of water. There is more water on Europa than there is water on Earth.

NASA is on a mission to send a satellite to Europa and take pictures of its geography and other observations. It has already been launched in October of this year and is estimated to reach in April of 2030. The satellite will dip down to the atmosphere of this moon and take observations of it and go back up. The atmosphere of Europa is made solely of oxygen. Oxygen that is made biologically. So this further proves the presence of alien life on Europa.

Habitable Exoplanets

Exoplanets are planets that are not in the solar system. An example of an exoplanet is Kepler-186f. A habitable exoplanet is an exoplanet that is not in the solar system, but also habitable. Habitable exoplanets include Gliese 12-b, K2-9b, and Kepler 62e. These planets can sustain life because it could have oxygen, water, or grassy land. It also must be in the Goldilocks zone or the habitable zone. This zone is where the planet is not too close to the sun and not too far from it, but just right.

Super-Earth

A super-earth is a habitable exoplanet, but its not any habitable exoplanet, its an exoplanet just like earth, but 10 times earth’s mass! Gliese 667 Cc (image above) is actually a super-earth. It is 10 times Earth’s mass and has water and land like earth. Scientists have found multiple planets like these, further increasing the chance of humans finding alien life. Another super-earth like this is Proxima-Centauri b. This one is actually only 4 lightyears away from the sun. The proxima centauri star system is the closest star to the sun. So maybe in the far future, humans can get to this planet.