Astronomers have proposed to search for inhabited planets for their oosterom

2018-02-16 14:56

Astronomers have proposed to search for inhabited planets for their oosterom
A relatively easy target observations – a high atomic oxygen in the ionosphere distant planet may indicate the presence of life in its surface.

Sign up for news “UkrMedia” in Facebook, Twitter or Google+

Since 1992, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, a lot of them are very similar to the Earth and remain the subject of special and permanent interest – search for alien life. If the high beam is suitable for this size and temperature, the first thing that scientists look for, of course, water, reports Rus.Media.

But the water itself still about what does not speak – to distinguish habitable planet which will not so easy. Professor, Boston University Michael Mendillo (Michael Mendillo) proposes to consider for this purpose the top of the atmosphere – ionosphere, about it he writes in article published by the journal Nature Astronomy.

In fact, even if the distant planet of habitable size and position relative to the stars, even if it is water, as it was recently proved for the system of TRAPPIST-1, we can say it is inhabited. It only gives the opportunity for life, but to ensure its availability, we need other evidence.

With this, you can look for in the atmospheres of organic matter that accompany life, and in the spectra indicate the absorption of radiation by photosynthetic organisms. But it is very weak, difficult to find signals. Michael Mendillo and his colleagues offer a more reliable way.

The scientists compared the ionospheres of the planets of the Solar system (in particular the kind of atmosphere there is in them all but mercury). Scientists noticed that they consist of a diluted gas ions, mixtures of complex derivatives of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, which rose from the lower layers of the atmosphere. Only in the Earth’s ionosphere is relatively simple and consists almost entirely of ionized oxygen.

Of course, for almost 4 billion years of continuous photosynthesis of living organisms Earth’s atmosphere has accumulated an exceptionally large amount of oxygen. On other planets it is virtually absent in the free form, but its molecules fill the air. They rise to a hundred kilometers or more, where under the influence of solar radiation disintegrate and lose electrons, forming neutral atoms and cations O+ – “external” evidence of the presence of life down at the planet’s surface.