Live without the sun

Scientists at the University of Chicago (USA) have calculated that life can exist on a planet for billions of years without a star providing direct warmth.

New Scientist quoted an expert on celestial physics Dorian Abbot and Eric Switzer, saying that the heat in this case is produced by the reactions of radioactive elements inside the planet's core. The heat generated enough to keep the oceans alive under liquid form, but with the above conditions is a thick layer of ice covering the planet's surface. The ice will turn the planet's surface into dead land, but life below it can last indefinitely.

New hypothesis about the planet does not need the sun

Experts named the discovery as ' Steppenwolf ' planet (wolf steppe). The reason, according to scientists, is that life-like planets that appear in that situation also suffer from the existence like a lone wolf wandering in the galactic steppe. Although it is unclear how life forms will be found on such a planet, the two scientists said that it must exist at the size of the virus.

The study focused on planets that range in size from 0.1 to 10 times the Earth, with similar characteristics. After that, experts calculate that a planet with the same amount of water as the earth must be 3.5 times bigger to maintain life. But a planet with 10 times the amount of water only needs about 1/3 of it. Next, they envisioned a volcanic Steppenwolf planet spraying a large amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. But CO2 will quickly freeze and fall in the form of snow almost instantaneously, covering the ground like an insulation tape. In this case, 0.3 times the size of the planet still maintains the liquid ocean.