New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Hunt for extraterrestrial life gets massive methane boost

Date:
June 16, 2014
Source:
University College London
Summary:
A powerful new model to detect life on planets outside of our solar system more accurately than ever before has been developed by researchers. The new model focuses on methane, the simplest organic molecule, widely acknowledged to be a sign of potential life. The new model has been tested and verified by successfully reproducing in detail the way in which the methane in failed stars, called brown dwarfs, absorbs light.
Share:
FULL STORY

A powerful new model to detect life on planets outside of our solar system, more accurately than ever before, has been developed by UCL (University College London) researchers.

The new model focuses on methane, the simplest organic molecule, widely acknowledged to be a sign of potential life.

Researchers from UCL and the University of New South Wales have developed a new spectrum for 'hot' methane which can be used to detect the molecule at temperatures above that of Earth, up to 1,500K/1220°C - something that was not possible before.

To find out what remote planets orbiting other stars are made of, astronomers analyze the way in which their atmospheres absorb starlight of different colors and compare it to a model, or 'spectrum', to identify different molecules.

Professor Jonathan Tennyson, (UCL Department of Physics and Astronomy) co-author of the study said: "Current models of methane are incomplete, leading to a severe underestimation of methane levels on planets. We anticipate our new model will have a big impact on the future study of planets and 'cool' stars external to our solar system, potentially helping scientists identify signs of extraterrestrial life."

The study, published in PNAS, describes how the researchers used some of the UK's most advanced supercomputers, provided by the Distributed Research utilising Advanced Computing (DiRAC) project and run by the University of Cambridge, to calculate nearly 10 billion spectroscopic lines, each with a distinct colour at which methane can absorb light. The new list of lines is 2000 times bigger than any previous study, which means it can give more accurate information across a broader range of temperatures than was previously possible.

Lead author of the study, Dr Sergei Yurchenko, (UCL Department of Physics and Astronomy) added: "The comprehensive spectrum we have created has only been possible with the astonishing power of modern supercomputers which are needed for the billions of lines required for the modelling. We limited the temperature threshold to 1,500K to fit the capacity available, so more research could be done to expand the model to higher temperatures still. Our calculations required about 3 million CPU (central processing unit) hours alone; processing power only accessible to us through the DiRAC project.

"We are thrilled to have used this technology to significantly advance beyond previous models available for researchers studying potential life on astronomical objects, and we are eager to see what our new spectrum helps them discover." he added.

The new model has been tested and verified by successfully reproducing in detail the way in which the methane in failed stars, called brown dwarfs, absorbs light.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University College London. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Sergei N. Yurchenko, Jonathan Tennyson, Jeremy Bailey, Morgan D. J. Hollis, and Giovanna Tinetti. Spectrum of hot methane in astronomical objects using a comprehensive computed line list. PNAS, June 2014 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1324219111

Cite This Page:

University College London. "Hunt for extraterrestrial life gets massive methane boost." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 June 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616151502.htm>.
University College London. (2014, June 16). Hunt for extraterrestrial life gets massive methane boost. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616151502.htm
University College London. "Hunt for extraterrestrial life gets massive methane boost." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616151502.htm (accessed March 19, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES