This new class of planet hoped by scientists to harbour alien life is a hot waterworld. Let’s stop Earth turning into one
Astronomers have begun scrutinising a new class of planet that might support alien life: the hycean. This is a portmanteau coinage combining “hydrogen” and “ocean”, since the planets are hot waterworlds with hydrogen-rich atmospheres.
In ancient Greek, Oceanus was the great river encompassing the disc of the Earth, personified as the son of Uranus and Gaia. Hydrogen, meanwhile, is Greek for “water-generating”, as H indeed is when combined with O2.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/38zc314
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