UK (Commonwealth Union)_ In a major scientific breakthrough, Indian-origin scientist Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan and his team have identified potential signs of life on the exoplanet K2-18b, located over 120 light-years from Earth in the Leo constellation. The discovery, made using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), marks a significant milestone in the ongoing search for extraterrestrial life. Dr. Madhusudhan, a professor of astrophysics and exoplanetary science at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, led the team of international researchers.
The research team’s study of K2-18b’s atmosphere revealed the presence of key carbon-bearing molecules such as methane and carbon dioxide, which are indicators that the planet could support biological activity. Most notably, they also detected a possible trace of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a molecule that, on Earth, is known to be produced only by living organisms like marine phytoplankton. “This is the strongest evidence yet that life may exist beyond Earth,” Dr. Madhusudhan stated. “I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years.”
K2-18b is classified as a sub-Neptune exoplanet and orbits a cool red dwarf star called K2-18. It lies within the star’s habitable zone, the region where conditions might allow for liquid water, a prerequisite for life as we know it. The planet is nearly 2.6 times larger and 8.6 times more massive compared to Earth. Scientists believe K2-18b could be a “Hycean” world, a class of planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres and potential global oceans, a concept first introduced by Dr. Madhusudhan himself. The discovery was made possible by JWST’s advanced instruments, including the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). These tools allowed the team to analyze the composition of K2-18b’s atmosphere with unprecedented clarity.
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While the presence of DMS is one of the most exciting aspects of the findings, NASA cautions that this detection is not yet confirmed. “Future Webb observations will be able to confirm if DMS is indeed present in the atmosphere of K2-18b at significant levels,” the space agency stated. Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan, born in India in 1980, is an alumnus of IIT-BHU and later earned his master’s and Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has held research positions at Yale, Princeton, and now Cambridge, where he continues to pioneer studies on exoplanetary habitability.
Furthermore, Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan has received accolades from the European Astronomical Society and the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics for his contributions to the field. “If we confirm that there is life on K2-18b, it should basically confirm that life is very common in the galaxy,” Madhusudhan said. The research team intends to continue observations of K2-18b over the next year using JWST. Additionally, in the future, the European Space Agency’s Ariel mission, scheduled for launch in 2029, will further investigate similar exoplanets, deepening our understanding of life’s potential across the cosmos.
