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Scientists may detect signs of extraterrestrial life in the next 5 to 10 years

Written by  Monday, 19 April 2021 03:34
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Washington DC (SPX) Apr 16, 2021
Research shows that a new telescope could detect a potential signature of life on other planets in as little as 60 hours. "What really surprised me about the results is that we may realistically find signs of life on other planets in the next 5 to 10 years," said Caprice Phillips, a graduate student at The Ohio State University, who will share preliminary findings at a press conference dur

Research shows that a new telescope could detect a potential signature of life on other planets in as little as 60 hours.

"What really surprised me about the results is that we may realistically find signs of life on other planets in the next 5 to 10 years," said Caprice Phillips, a graduate student at The Ohio State University, who will share preliminary findings at a press conference during the 2021 APS April Meeting.

Gas dwarf planets have the potential to foster life. But because none of these super-Earths or mini-Neptunes exist within our solar system, scientists struggle to determine whether their atmospheres contain ammonia and other potential signs of living things.

Phillips calculated that when the James Webb Space Telescope launches this October, it could feasibly detect ammonia around six gas dwarf planets after just a few orbits.

She and her team modeled how JWST instruments would respond to varying clouds and atmospheric conditions, then produced a ranked list of where the telescope should search for life.

"Humankind has contemplated the questions, 'Are we alone? What is life? Is life elsewhere similar to us?'" said Phillips. "My research suggests that for the first time, we have the scientific knowledge and technological capabilities to realistically begin to find the answers to these questions."

Research Report: "Detecting Biosignatures in the Atmospheres of Gas Dwarfs With JWST"


Related Links
American Physical Society
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth

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EXO WORLDS
Study warns of 'oxygen false positives' in search for signs of life on other planets
Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Apr 14, 2021
In the search for life on other planets, the presence of oxygen in a planet's atmosphere is one potential sign of biological activity that might be detected by future telescopes. A new study, however, describes several scenarios in which a lifeless rocky planet around a sun-like star could evolve to have oxygen in its atmosphere. The new findings, published April 13 in AGU Advances, highlight the need for next-generation telescopes that are capable of characterizing planetary environments and sear ... read more


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