Life-bearing primordial planets in the solar vicinity

Wickramasinghe, N. C.; Wallis, Jamie; Wallis, Daryl H.; Schild, Rudolph E.; Gibson, Carl H.

doi:10.1007/s10509-012-1092-8

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…at the epoch when the first stellar light illuminated the Universe at redshifts z 10 (see, e.g., Scannapieco et al 2006). It is worth mentioning in this connection that very recently Wickramasinghe et al (2012) presented arguments that primordial free-floating planets of solid hydrogen may account the whole "missing baryons" in the Universe. When recalculated for the Milky Way, the number of such primordial planets shall be as numerous as ∼ 10 14 .…”

Section: Planets In the Early Universementioning

confidence: 98%

Planets in the early Universe

Shchekinov¹,

Safonova

Murthy

2013

Astrophys Space Sci

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Several planets have recently been discovered around stars that are old and metal-poor, implying that these planets are also old, formed in the early Universe together with their hosts. The canonical theory suggests that the conditions for their formation could not have existed at such early epochs. In this paper we argue that the required conditions, such as sufficiently high dust-to-gas ratio, could in fact have existed in the early Universe immediately following the first episode of metal production in Pop. III stars, both in metal-enhanced and metaldeficient environments. Metal-rich regions may have existed in multiple isolated pockets of enriched and weakly-mixed gas close to the massive Pop. III stars. Observations of quasars at redshifts z ∼ 5, and gamma-ray bursts at z ∼ 6, show a very wide spread of metals in absorption from [X/H] ≃ −3 to ≃ −0.5. This suggests that physical conditions in the metal-abundant clumps could have been similar to where protoplanets form today. However, planets could have formed even in low-metallicity environments, where formation of stars is expected to proceed due to lower opacity at higher densities. In such cases, the circumstellar accretion disks are expected to rotate faster than their high-metallicity analogues. This in turn can result in the enhancement of dust particles at the disk periphery, where they can coagulate and start forming planetesimals. In conditions with the low initial specific angular momentum of the cloud, radiation from the central protostar can act as a trigger to drive small-scale instabilities with typical masses in the Earth to Jupiter mass range. Discoveries of planets around old metal-poor stars (e.g. HIP 11952, [Fe/H] ∼ −1.95, ∼ 13 Gyr) show that planets did indeed form in the early Universe and this may require modification of our understanding of the physical processes that produce them. This work is an attempt to provide one such heuristic scenario for the physical basis for their existence.

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Section: Planets In the Early Universementioning

confidence: 98%

Planets in the early Universe

Shchekinov¹,

Safonova

Murthy

2013

Astrophys Space Sci

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“…A different approach was taken by Wickramasinghe et al [ 69 ], who pointed out that large impacts–like the one that resulted in the Chicxulub crater 65 million years ago–would eject large amounts of debris, including a microbial load, into the zodiacal cloud. During the impact, a significant fraction of material would not have been shocked and heated to sterilization levels, and microbes may be able to stay viable in the cloud for millions of years [ 70 , 71 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the impact, a significant fraction of material would not have been shocked and heated to sterilization levels, and microbes may be able to stay viable in the cloud for millions of years [ 70 , 71 ]. Wickramasinghe et al [ 69 ] considered that scenario for an Earth-type planet seeding a rogue planet as realistic. If so, the same should be true for the reverse transport, from the rogue planet to the planet within the solar system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Microbial Habitability of Rogue Planets and Proposing Speculative Scenarios on How They Might Act as Vectors for Panspermia

Schulze‐Makuch

Fairén

2021

Life

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There are two types of rogue planets, sub-brown dwarfs and “rocky” rogue planets. Sub-brown dwarfs are unlikely to be habitable or even host life, but rocky rogue planets may have a liquid ocean under a thick atmosphere or an ice layer. If they are overlain by an insulating ice layer, they are also referred to as Steppenwolf planets. However, given the poor detectability of rocky rogue planets, there is still no direct evidence of the presence of water or ice on them. Here we discuss the possibility that these types of rogue planets could harbor unicellular organisms, conceivably based on a variety of different energy sources, including chemical, osmotic, thermal, and luminous energy. Further, given the theoretically predicted high number of rogue planets in the galaxy, we speculate that rogue planets could serve as a source for galactic panspermia, transferring life to other planetary systems.

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“…When samples of the meteorite were examined using an electron microscope there was little room for disputing the existence of fossilised microbial structures, including diatoms, the characteristic morphologies and microstructures of which were diagnostic of their biological provenance [14,28,29] The voices of dissent that have been uttered, mostly off-stage, are to the effect that the rocks containing these microfossils cannot be accepted as meteorites. The porous, fluffy structure of the stones does not readily fit with any well-established meteorite class, and so also is their high silica content.…”

Section: Sri Lankan Meteoritementioning

confidence: 99%

Life as a Cosmic Phenomenon: The Socio-Economic Control of a Scientific Paradigm

Wickramasinghe¹

2014

Astrobiol Outreach

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A major paradigm shift with potentially profound implications has been taking place over the past 3 decades at a rapidly accelerating pace. The Copernican revolution of half a millennium ago is now being extended to place humanity on the Earth in its correct cosmic perspective -an assembly of cosmically derived viral genes, no more, no less, pieced together over 4 billion years of geological history against the processes of Darwinian natural selection. The evidence for our cosmic ancestry has now grown to the point that to deny it is a process fraught with imminent danger. We discuss the weight of modern scientific evidence from diverse sources, the history of development of the relevant ideas, and the socio-economic and historical forces that are responsible for dictating the pace of change.

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Life-bearing primordial planets in the solar vicinity

Cited by 13 publications

References 20 publications

Planets in the early Universe

Planets in the early Universe

Evaluating the Microbial Habitability of Rogue Planets and Proposing Speculative Scenarios on How They Might Act as Vectors for Panspermia

Life as a Cosmic Phenomenon: The Socio-Economic Control of a Scientific Paradigm

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