In an age of ever-growing numbers of exoplanets circling other stars, it's natural that astronomers search for signatures of advanced civilizations. Such signatures may have biological or technological origins.
, we look for something a little different? How about evidence of atmospheric pollution produced by technological societies? After all, we're familiar with it here on Earth. That's the thrust of a paper inThey suggest that technological civilizations might be uncovered via a hunt for chemicals not created by life. Specifically, the team proposes nitrogen trifluoride and sulfur hexafluoride .
Not only are these gases specific to industrial processes , but they have very unique spectral features. When found in the atmosphere of a distant planet, their spectral fingerprints would leap out from the background spectra. So, if astronomers see those fingerprints in an alien world's atmosphere, perhaps a reasonably advanced civilization generated them.As we've learned recently, astronomers can now search in more detail for gases in exoplanet atmospheres.
To find evidence for them in exoplanet atmospheres, Seager's team created a new tool called a"spectra phalanx plot." Essentially it allows users to create a visual comparison of all the spectral peaks in a gas molecules spectrum. It groups molecules with similar peaks together. This allows further analysis of the spectral clusters. In addition, the team uses its data to simulate model atmospheres.
Interestingly, the report also suggests that unexpected discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics will be a result of the search for life elsewhere. It states,"A key outcome of this workshop was that technosignature searches should be conducted in a manner consistent with Freeman Dyson's"First Law of SETI Investigations," namely"every search for alien civilizations should be planned to give interesting results even when no aliens are discovered.
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