Scientists Are Getting Closer To Finding Alien Life After Finding New Signs From Occupied Planet

Researchers at the University of California,iri (UCR) found that greenhouse gases on a planet (photo: x @DPaisley_Noah)

JAKARTA - alien life has not been found in space, but a new study has identified "signs" of the habiting planet.

Researchers at the University of California,iri (UCR) found that greenhouse gases, which are similar to those emitted on Earth, could indicate that a distant world has been changed or artificial. The existence of methane, ethana, and propane, along with nitrogen-fluorine or sulfur-fluorine gases, could indicate the existence of life forms that use technology, as these gases are usually produced through industrial processes.

The study's lead author, UCR astrobiologist Edward Schwieterman, noted that while these gases are damaging to Earth's climate due to its warming effects, they can benefit civilizations that want to prevent ice age or change uninhabitable planets, similar to human proposals for Mars.

The team used simulations on hypothetical planets to show that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could easily detect these gases such as detecting ozone on Earth. They specifically chose the TRAPPIST-1 system, known as the seven rocky worlds, as their model.

The simulation uses the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) to analyze the atmosphere and surface of the planet. The results show that JWST, using the Central Infrared Instrument (MIRI), can detect this greenhouse gas in just five transits if it is present in high concentrations, such as 100 parts per million (ppm).

MIRI, which has cameras and spectrographs, is capable of detecting the redshift of distant galaxies, newly formed stars, faint comets, and objects in the Kuiper Belt. This study shows that these proposed gases, which are very long-lived, will remain in Earth-like atmospheres of up to 50,000 years, reducing the need for frequent refills to sustain habitable climates.

Daniel Angerhausen of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology expressed optimism about the potential of the next generation of telescopes to systematically seek life and intelligence in our galactic environment. This thought experiment demonstrates the current technological power in bringing us closer to finding signs of intelligent life.