by I James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) would be able to see signs of our civilization on Earth if it were observing us from another star system in the Milky Way, a new study shows. The discovery raises the prospect that high-tech spacecraft may be able to spot alien civilizations as they peer into the far reaches of our galaxy.
Since its launch in late 2021, JWST has been focusing on the deepest parts of the cosmos in search of clues about how the first ecosystem was formed. But one of the secondary objectives of the telescope is to analyze the atmosphere of nearby exoplanets, or planets beyond the solar system, to look for gases produced by biological life, known as biosignatures, and chemicals produced by advanced alien civilizations, known as technology.
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But despite being the most advanced telescope currently in operation, it remains unclear how JWST will be able to detect signs of intelligent life. In order to answer this question, researchers decided to test whether a space telescope could detect intelligent life on the only known habitable planet that is currently in existence—Earth.
It’s a new review, posted on a pre-print server arXiv on August 28, researchers took a spectrum of Earth’s atmosphere and deliberately reduced the quality of the data to simulate how it would appear to an observer several light years away. The team then used a computer model, which replicated JWST’s sensor capabilities, to see if the spacecraft could detect key biosignatures and technosignatures from the dataset, such as methane and oxygen, produced by biological life. , and nitrogen dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are produced by humans.
The results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, show that JWST can detect all the main signs of non-intelligent and intelligent life in our planet’s atmosphere.
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The researchers noted that the quality of the data exchanged was fairly consistent JWST observations of planets from TRAPPIST-1 – A star system containing seven exoplanets orbiting a red star 40 light years from Earth. This indicates that the telescope should be able to detect life or extraterrestrial civilizations on exoplanets within 40 light years of Earth. But the team believes JWST can detect signs of extraterrestrial life up to 50 light years from Earth.
Only about 20 exoplanets have been officially discovered within a 50-light-year radius of Earth, but based on the number of suspected stars in this region of the sky, experts estimate that there could be 4,000 exoplanets within reach of JWST, according to. to go The EDEN Projectan international astronomical collaboration dedicated to the discovery of habitable planets near Earth.
However, this does not guarantee that JWST will be able to detect life on other planets.
Detecting biosignatures and technologies in other countries “may prove challenging to interpret without contextual information about habitat conditions,” the researchers wrote. In this study, the team already knows which markers to look for, but on an exoplanet with different conditions and other possible life forms or technologies those signatures of life may not be visible, they added.
JWST has already made some interesting discoveries about near-Earth exoplanets. A telescope visible water on the Neptune-sized exoplanet GJ 1214bwhich is around 40 light-years from Earth, and discovered that TRAPPIST-1b, the second closest exoplanet to a star in the TRAPPIST-1 system, there may be no wind at all because of its extreme heat. The spaceship glanced again a A large dust storm in the atmosphere of VHS 1256 b“super-Jupiter” exoplanet 40 light-years from Earth.
Closer to home, JWST was also discovered giant geysers from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which may contain chemicals necessary for life. And out in the cosmos, spaceships have it too Sculpting carbon compounds that could give life to a baby star system more than 1,000 light years from Earth.
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