NASA should search for Earth's twin if it has one.
This is the conclusion of a once in a decade report, which sets the priorities for astronomy for the next decade. According to the report, NASA needs a large, fancy, new space telescope in order to find Earth-like exoplanets.
Space.com reported that every 10 years, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine give advice to government agencies such as NASA and National Science Foundation on which research goals astronomers should prioritize over the next decade. On Thursday, Nov. 4, the advisors released their most recent report. They highlighted three main research priorities: To better understand black holes and neutron star formation and evolution; and to identify "habitable Earthlike worlds" as well as biochemical signatures of life on other planetary systems.
Fiona Harrison, a Caltech astronomer who co-chaired this committee, stated that "The most incredible scientific opportunity ahead for us in the next decades is the possibility of finding life on another planet orbiting an star in our galactic neighbourhood."
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NASA should create a telescope larger than the Hubble Space Telescope that is equipped with ultraviolet, optical, and infrared sensors. This would allow NASA to discover such planets. A coronagraph would be included in the telescope. This is a telescopic attachment that blocks out direct light from stars so that objects nearby can be seen. Otherwise, faint exoplanets could be obscured by the brighter star neighboring them.
According to Axios, the telescope would have a cost of $11 billion and launch (ideally) in 2040s.
Bruce Macintosh (an astrophysicist from Stanford who was a member the committee), stated that you won't see continents on the surfaces of planets with such a telescope. Instead, you'll see "distinct little dots". Scientists could then determine the chemical composition of the atmosphere by studying the light reflected from the exoplanet. Although evidence from the atmosphere of water, methane, and oxygen could indicate the existence of life on the planet's surface, astronomers would have to rule out other explanations such as volcanic activity.
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John O'Meara (committee member and chief scientist at W. M. Keck Observatory) stated that humanity's place is fundamentally altered when they see the first signs of life in the universe.
This mission would have been considered "a little piece of pie in the sky" a decade ago by Jonathan Fortney, a University of California, Santa Cruz planetary scientist and one of the members of The Atlantic. Today, scientists have discovered more than 4,500 exoplanets. Approximately 160 are rocky and similar to Earth.
We have the ability to analyze and discover the atmospheres on distant worlds. This will allow us to begin to answer the question "Are we alone?" Rachel Osten, an Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, spoke to NPR about her participation on the committee.
Original publication on Live Science
