Solar Storms May Have Sparked Life On Earth, NASA Says

Solar storms that happened billions of years ago may have warmed the Earth allowing it to nurture life, a new research study revealed.

About four billion years ago, the sun reportedly shone only about one-third of the brightness that we experience today. The surface then had major eruptions spewing radiation and solar material into the space. The said solar storm may have provided the energy needed for simple molecules become complex ones, according to NASA.

When Sun was still a "baby" the atmosphere of Earth was about 90 percent, which is 12 percent higher than today's levels.

According to Vladimir Airapetian, NASA solar scientist, "Back then, Earth received only about 70 percent of the energy from the Sun that it does today." Without this, Earth could have been icy and could not have supported living organisms, and the planet could not have been habitable.

Airapetian added: "Instead, geological evidence says it was a warm globe with liquid water. We call this the 'Faint Young Sun Paradox'. Our new research shows that solar storms could have been central to warming Earth."

Research study co-author William Danchi, also from NASA, meanwhile said they want to gather the necessary information to check out the habitable planets around the stars and near Earth. He said this means involving scientists with different specializations.

"Working together, we can create a robust description of what the early days of our home planet looked like, and where life might exist elsewhere," he said. He noted the need for collaboration in this field of research.

The new research study was made available today in the Nature Geoscience Journal.

Also this month, NASA's keplar mission said there are nine planets discovered that could be potentially habitable. The recent research will help experts to assess if those nine planets are indeed habitable.