Astronomers at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma, Canaries, have reported a way to search planetary atmospheres for life signs. The aim is increase our chances of finding alien life outside the solar system.
The science team used the WHT and other La Palma instruments to look for information on our own planet’s chemical makeup, by checking on earthlight visible during a lunar eclipse. In the light measured, called the transmission spectrum, were signs of gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that were clear signs of life. These include large quantities of methane, a waste gas given off by many animals. Cows alone contribute some 16 percent of the world's atmospheric methane!
So that’s all right then - now we know there's life on Earth! More importantly, similar techniques will make it easier to check on the atmospheres of alien worlds, far beyond our Solar System.
It’s hard to believe that in the days of the Apollo missions, not a single extrasolar planet had been found - indeed, no one knew if any existed at all. But the science fiction community had faith - we knew they were there all along, just as we’re still expecting to find ET and weird critters out there one day.
Visit the William Herschel Telescope homepage here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment