Finding Aliens By Using The Moon As Mirror
Astronomers that search for alien life found a new trick. Maybe we could use our Moon as a gigantic mirror.
Image by Ponciano from Pixabay
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Scientists from NASA and ESA captured light using the Hubble Space Telescope that passed through the atmosphere of Earth to be reflected off the Moon. This could allow us to search for chemical signatures that identify this process.
The term “Earth-like exoplanet” is usually reserved for rocky worlds that have a similar mass to Earth and temperatures that are viable for the existence of life as we know it. But that is not everything that makes Earth a life-viable planet. For example, you also need the right atmosphere. And figuring out what atmosphere of an exoplanet has is much harder.
"One of NASA's major goals is to identify planets that could support life, but how would we know a habitable or an uninhabited planet if we saw one?” said Allison Youngblood. This precisely is the reason why the study (link in sources) is so important. It allowed us to find out what is the amount of ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere by indirect observation. So, if we find a similar chemical signature on an exoplanet there is a good chance it could be an oxygen-rich planet with an ozone layer that blocks harmful UV radiation.
And as far as we know, this is a pretty good indicator of life.
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