A group of astronomers affirmed that there is a possibility that NASA’s recently launched James Webb Space Telescope could detect extraterrestrial life or even signs of advanced extraterrestrial civilization on planets outside the Solar System, of course, if they exist.
Astronomers hope the new telescope will change the way we understand our universe, just as the Hubble Space Telescope did decades before.
Among others, one tantalizing capability offered by James Webb, unlike Hubble, is the opportunity to directly image individual exoplanets orbiting distant stars; a tempting prospect that, according to some, could lead us to discover life.
James Webb Space Telescope Prototype. (Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP / Getty Images)
Detectable traces of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
In particular, astrobiologists, including those of NASA and Pennsylvania State University assure that James Webb has the potential to detect markers of habitability, as well as atmospheric and surface signatures of life on other planets.
In a study not yet reviewed by pairs, published earlier this month on the preprint server ArXiv, stated that, with the proper settings, the powerful telescope could be used to detect planets with detectable traces of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in their atmosphere.
CFCs deplete the ozone layer. (Photo: NASA)
Greenhouse gases: civilization indicator
On Earth, greenhouse gases such as CFCs, that deplete the ozone layer, and that have persisted due to their long life in the outermost layers of our atmosphere, are a clear indicator of an industrialized civilization.
Under this same premise, according to the reasoning of scientists, extraterrestrial civilizations could also leave or have left similar signs (components artificial atmospheric conditions) on other planets, which could be considered as “technosignatures” in the search for extraterrestrial life.
“Biosignatures generally refer to any remotely detectable evidence of life, while ‘technosignatures’ specifically describe observational evidence of technology that could be detected through astronomical means,” they wrote. scientists in the study.
“Technosignatures are a logical continuation of the search for biosignatures, since both are based on the history of life and technology on Earth as examples of evolution planetary”, they explained.
Pollution would help to find civilizations.
Civilizations in the TRAPPIST-1 system?
The team even identified a good first target to look for CFCs: TRAPPIST-1, a system made up of several Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star just 40 Light years.
“CFCs are a notable example of technosignatures on Earth, and the detection of CFCs on a planet like TRAPPIST-1e would be difficult to explain through any biological or geological features that we know of today. day”, the document reads.
However, the scientists admitted that the ability of the new telescope to find CFCs on other planets has several limitations. For example, if a planet’s star is too bright, it will drown out the signal. Therefore, the telescope will have more success observing M-class stars, which are dim, long-lived red dwarfs, like TRAPPIST-1.
This artist’s concept allows us to imagine what it would be like to be on the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f.
Unfortunately, M-class stars are not usually conducive to life, although experts warn that if they slow down as they age, they can become more habitable.
As reported Universe Today, the James Webb Telescope might be able to see CFCs on TRAPPIST-1’s planets, because the dim star won’t drown out the CFC signature in the same way that a bright star, like our Sun (a G-type star).
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The future in space exploration
However, that could soon change as even more capable technologies are developed. “In the coming decades there will be at least two of the Earth’s passive technosignatures, radio emissions and air pollution, that would be detectable by our own technology around the nearest star,” the team said.
In any case, the fact that we are about to have the ability to look directly opens up a wide range of possibilities for understanding the cosmos.
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As the article concludes, “with the launch of the James Webb telescope, humanity may be very close to an important milestone in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence”.
Also read: NASA paid priests to figure out how to deal with aliens The day a meteorite pierced the roof of a house in Canada and fell into a woman’s bed Complete deployment of the solar shield on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
