Nasa’s James Webb Telescope could find signs of alien’s life on planets orbiting other stars.
Nasa’s James Webb Telescope has recently left scientists dumbstruck by sending stunning pictures from Space. And now, scientists are hoping that it could detect life beyond Earth. In short, James Webb Telescope is hunting for aliens! As reported by sciencealert.com, Chris Impey and Daniel Apai are studying exoplanets and astrobiology. They have shared that the James Webb Space Telescope could help researchers to measure the chemical composition of atmospheres of planets around other stars. The scientists are hoping to find one or more of these planets with a chemical signature of life. So, what are exoplanets and how scientists could detect life on exoplanet.
In order to detect life on an exoplanet, scientists and researchers will study starlight that has interacted with a planet’s surface or atmosphere. And if the atmosphere or surface was transformed by life, the light may carry a clue, called a “biosignature”.
For example, on Earth, the chlorophyll and other pigments plants and algae use for photosynthesis capture specific wavelengths of light and if the same would be seen on other planets, it would detect the possibility of presence of Chlorophyll.
What are habitable exoplanets?
Scientists have found the possibility of the existence of life on planets beyond earth. They have found some evidence that supports the existence of water molecules like the subsurface aquifers on Mars or in the oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa. However, presence of life is yet to be confirmed. But many astronomers believe that there’s a good chance of existence of life on planets orbiting other stars, and it might be possible that life could first be found there.
As per the report, theoretically, around 300 million potentially habitable planets exist in the Milky Way Galaxy alone and several habitable planets equal to the size of earth exist within only 30 light-years of Earth – potential humanity’s galactic neighbors.
As of now, astronomers have discovered over 5,000 exoplanets, and some of them were potentially habitable ones. They’ve used indirect methods to measure effects of a planet on its nearby star. These measurements can give researchers information on the mass and size of an exoplanet.
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