The search for extra-terrestrial life is going to look at our nearest galactic neighbor
Scientists are starting to look for life in our galactic backyard.
Alpha Centauri, two stars that at just over four light-years (about 25 trillion miles) away are the closest sunlike stars to our solar system, is the focus of a new effort to find planets that could reveal signs of life. The project centers on building a small space telescope — dubbed TOLIMAN after a medieval name for the star — that will go into Earth’s orbit in about two years and could start detecting planets by about 2025.
Although Alpha Centauri is right next door in astronomical terms, no planets have been detected around its binary star system. If any are found, their atmospheres could be scanned for the “biosignatures” created by extraterrestrial life — a relatively new astronomical technique that could allow scientists to determine by telescope if there’s alien life, especially microbial, on distant planets.
More than 4,000 alien planets have now been confirmed, but they’ve been largely discovered thanks to lucky alignments, said project leader Peter Tuthill, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney.
“There’s a little bit of a dark secret that astronomers have been keeping,” he said. “We’re not actually very good at finding planets.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/search-extraterrestrial-life-going-look-nearest-galactic-neighbor-rcna6313
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