Astronomers announced they have found the most promising "hints" of potential life on a planet outside our solar system, although other scientists have expressed scepticism.

There has been a lively debate in scientific circles over whether the planet K2-18b, which lies 124 light years away in the constellation Leo, could be an ocean world capable of hosting microbial life.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a British-American team of researchers has detected signs of two chemicals in the planet's atmosphere that have long been thought to be "biosignals" indicating extraterrestrial life.

On Earth, the chemicals dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethyldisulfide are produced only by life, mostly microscopic marine algae called phytoplankton, AFP reported.

However, the researchers urged caution. They say more observations are needed to confirm these results, and that they are not announcing a definitive discovery.

According to Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the implications could be huge.

"What we are finding at this stage are hints of possible biological activity outside the solar system," the astrophysicist said.

"Frankly, I think this is the closest we've come to seeing a feature that we can attribute to life," he said.

But outside experts have highlighted the controversy over previous exoplanet discoveries. They added that these chemicals may have been created in an unknown way having nothing to do with life. | BGNES