[ad_1]
The natural history of the Earth could now serve as a guide for astronomers to spot exoplanets. About 500 million years ago, this planet had a different light signature due to the dominance of the moss. About 300 million years ago, ferns dominated and mature forms of plants dominate today – reinforcing the light signature of our planet (Jack O. Malley-James / Wendy Kenigsberg / Brand Communications ).
The Earth's history could be useful for locating planets where vegetation could exist, potentially showing signs of life, according to a new study
The new study, published by researchers at Cornell University, describes what they call a "model for vegetation footprints" to determine the age of potentially habitable exoplanets.
"Our models show that the Earth's reflectance signature is increasing with the surface of our planet, but also with the age of our planet," said co-author Jack O-Malley-James, research associate at the Carl Sagan Institute in Cornell. declaration.
REAL-LIFE & # 39; PLANET VULCAN & # 39; FIND 16 YEARS OF LONG TERM
The study was published in Journal of Astrobiology.
Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer in Cornell, said Earth's history was "essential" to finding life in the universe and that the way plants evolved could be useful for finding life elsewhere.
"We use the history of the Earth as a key to finding life in the universe," said Kaltenegger in his statement. "Our work shows that as plants evolved on Earth, the signal of vegetation revealing their presence became stronger, making older exoplanets really interesting places to look for vegetation."
The study examined how the red edge of the planet's vegetation [VRE] ("often cited as a spectral biosignature for surface vegetation on exoplanets", according to the abstract) would look at time in time as it evolves.
"The first plants, such as mosses and liverworts, which dominated the earth 500 to 400 million years ago, produce a lower ERV, about half as much as that of modern vegetation," the report says. abstract.
But with time, VRE become stronger, potentially an indicator of life. "Our results suggest that older, warmer Earth-like planets are good targets for the search for an ERV signature." In addition, hot exoplanets and dry exoplanets with water could be the best targets for successful detection of vegetation biosignature ". .
PLUTO SHOULD STILL BE A PLANET, ARGUE RESEARCHERS
It is possible that, as the Earth continues to warm under the influence of climate change, the VRE signal will become more powerful, making it easier to search for life among the exoplanets.
"Observing an exoplanet is more difficult, but telescope technology detects tiny signals better," O'Malley-James said. "By integrating the changing landscapes of the Earth into our models, it will be easier to detect vegetation in the future on other worlds."
Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia
[ad_2]
Source link
