Scientists say they obtained the strongest signs yet of the possibility of life in a distant solar system.

The scientists, using the James Webb Space Telescope, said they detected in an alien planet’s atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of similar gases found on Earth.

The two gases – dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and dimethyl disulphide (DMDS) – were produced by biological processes.

The DMS and DMDS involved in Webb’s observation of the planet named K2-18b were generated on earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton-algae.

Algae are plant-like organisms that thrive in the sunlit upper layers of oceans.

The scientists said their discovery suggests the planet may be teeming with microbial life.

They, however, said that they were not announcing the discovery of actual living organisms but rather a possible biosignature – an indicator of a biological process.

They said that the finding should be viewed cautiously, with more observations needed.

“These are the first hints of an alien world that is possibly inhabited,” says astrophysicist Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy.

Mr Madhusudhan is the lead author of the study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

“This is a transformational moment in the search for life beyond the solar system, where we have demonstrated that it is possible to detect biosignatures in potentially habitable planets with current facilities. We have entered the era of observational astrobiology,” Mr Madhusudhan said.

He said there were various efforts underway searching for signs of life in the solar system.

The astrophysicist said this includes various claims of environments that might be conducive to life in places such as Mars, Venus and various icy moons.

Mr Madhusudhan said, “The K2-18b is 8.6 times as massive as Earth and has a diameter about 2.6 times as large as our planet. It orbits in the “habitable zone” – a distance where liquid water, a key ingredient for life, can exist on a planetary surface – around a red dwarf star smaller and less luminous than the sun.’’

(Reuters/NAN)