NASA’s James Webb Telescope Can Detect Alien Biosignatures in 60 Hours
New technology may help scientists discover extraterrestrial life on other planets in just days.
Scientists at the Ohio State University have just announced that by using the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch this fall, they may be able to detect biosignatures on gas dwarf planets. These biosignatures, such as ammonia, could be a sign of life and with new technology, they may be able to make this distinction in as few as 60 hours. But what exactly do they mean by life?
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Will NASA's New Telescope Discover ET Life?
The spectacular first images from the James Webb Space Telescope are finally here and they do not disappoint.
After years of planning, construction, delays, and a cost of about $10 billion, we finally have the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched in December of 2021, the JWST is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever to be put in space.
Astronomers have waited a lifetime to see with such amazing clarity deep into space. JWST does this by operating in the infrared spectrum; it “sees” light that is outside the visible spectrum of our naked eye and previous telescopes like Hubble. Â
NASA released photos of the first five targets noting, “These first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope demonstrate Webb at its full power, ready to begin its mission to unfold the infrared universe.”
We caught up with astronomer and Gaia News contributor Marc D’Antonio on the road in Arizona, to break down the images.
“I saw these images and the release of all five different images represent a different aspect of what this telescope can do — absolutely astonishing to me — from galaxies to gas clouds, this telescope hands down, has the ability to show us so much that we don’t understand.”
