Is there any existence of life on other planets? It seems this several times asked the question, might be answered in 5 to 10 years. NASA is expected to launch The James Webb Space Telescope this October. It is being said that the telescope could perhaps detect ammonia around six dwarf planets, thus detecting a potential signature of life on another planet in as little as 60 hours
Research by the Ohio State University.
“What really surprised me about the results is that we may realistically find signs of life on other planets in the next 5 to 10 years,” said Caprice Phillips, a graduate student from Ohio State University. She shared the preliminary findings at a press conference during the 2021 APS April Meeting.
As none of the super-Earths or mini-Neptunes exist within our solar system, scientists struggle to determine whether their atmosphere contains ammonia and another potential of living things. Though Gas Dwarf Planets have the potential to foster life. Phillips along with her team calculated that when the James Webb Space Telescope launches it could feasibly detect ammonia around gas dwarf planets after just a few orbits.
“Humankind has contemplated the questions, ‘Are we alone? What is life? Is Life elsewhere similar to us?” said Phillips in the press conference. Seems like these questions might be answered in a span of few years from now with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope.
About the James Webb Telescope.
The James Webb Telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory that will contemplate and extent the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope with longer wavelength coverage greatly improved sensitivity. The telescope is the world’s largest, most powerful, and complex space science telescope ever built. Designed to solve mysteries of our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around the stars and probing origins of our universe.
Caprice Phillips and her team modeled how the telescope instruments would respond to varying clouds and the atmospheric conditions it faces. They also provided a rank list to where the telescope should search for a life-creating potential set of targets for the observations.
Webb’s recent tests have validated the fully assembled observatory can endure deafening noises, the jarring shakes, rattles, and vibrations that it will experience during the lift-off, according to NASA. “My research suggests that for the first time, we have the scientific knowledge and technological capabilities to really begin to find the answers to these questions”, said Phillips.
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