Even before its launch in 2021, researchers have discovered a new way to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to look for signs of oxygen on distant exoplanets, according to a new study.
The research notes that by looking for signals of oxygen molecules colliding in the atmospheres of these distant planets, scientists could “distinguish between living and nonliving planets,” a statement accompanying the study reads.
“Before our work, oxygen at similar levels as on Earth was thought to be undetectable with Webb,” said Thomas Fauchez of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in the statement. “This oxygen signal is known since the early 1980s from Earth’s atmospheric studies but has never been studied for exoplanet research.”
Using the JWST, researchers will look for light patterns in a planet’s atmosphere; when the oxygen molecules collide, they block some of the infrared light spectrum seen by the telescope, indicating their presence.
If researchers were to detect colliding oxygen molecules using the JWST, it’s possible these planets could contain organisms that use photosynthesis to convert sunlight into energy. It’s also possible that the oxygen may be on a planet that has no life at all, which is why the new technique is important, according to UC Riverside astrobiologist Edward Schwieterman.
“Oxygen is one of the most exciting molecules to detect because of its link with life, but we don’t know if life is the only cause of oxygen in an atmosphere,” Schwieterman said. “This technique will allow us to find oxygen in planets both living and dead.”
If oxygen were present on an exoplanet that did not host life, it could be that it is outside of the “habitable zone,” have a warmer-than-average atmosphere or it could have an abundance of water vapor from evaporating oceans, the researchers added.
“It is important to know whether and how much dead planets generate atmospheric oxygen, so that we can better recognize when a planet is alive or not,” Schwieterman added.
The study has been published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.
The JWST, the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, was finally assembled in August after two halves of the telescope were joined together in Redondo Beach, Calif.
The next steps for the telescope include engineers deploying the five-layer sunshield, which NASA said is “designed to keep Webb’s mirrors and scientific instruments cold by blocking infrared light from the Earth, Moon and Sun.” The space agency added that the deployment of the sunshield “is critical to mission success.”
Following final testing, including environmental and deployment testing, the telescope will launch into space in 2021, taking over for the Hubble, which continues to make incredible discoveries since its launch into space in April 1990.