Science
NASA’s New Telescope Could Detect Alien Life In Just Hours, Scientists Say
NASA recently unveiled a new telescope that can detect important information in a couple of hours, which could be a major advance to the search for extraterrestrial life in space.
When it comes to looking for extraterrestrial life, NASA and other space agencies are far more focused on the distant reaches of space, even if you could travel to several important U.S. states to improve your odds of seeing an alien abduction.
The largest obstacle to reaching aliens, according to former astronauts, is locating them in the first place. However, a new, innovative telescope is being constructed that will be able to accomplish this in a few “hours.”
Although it may not be as large as the now-canceled Overwhelmingly Large Telescope, the Extremely Large Telescope, as its name suggests, gives scientists access to hitherto unheard-of capabilities for investigating extraterrestrial life.
With a diameter of 40 meters and the ability to gather 15 times more light than the next largest of its kind, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be the largest optical telescope on Earth when construction is finished, which should be around 2028.
The European Southern Observatory has levelled an entire mountain in a Chilean desert to complete the $1,000,000,000 project due to its significance; however, once it becomes operational, the effort and money may prove to be worthwhile.
According to Indy100, the ELT’s ability to offer a quicker and considerably more efficient way to search for extraterrestrial life beyond space is one of its primary characteristics.
According to current calculations, it would only take ten hours to use this on planets orbiting Proxima Centauri more than four light-years distant. It would accomplish this by recognising what are known as “biosignatures”, which are essentially chemical indicators of life on planets.
With planets of the size of Neptune thought to take only an hour to scan, larger planets would also yield faster results.
The number of attempts to locate extraterrestrial life could skyrocket once the ELT is ultimately put into operation, given the technologies currently accessible to astronomers can take days or even years to complete equivalent jobs.
A recent study published in the academic journal arXiv illustrates the potential capabilities of the ELT, detailing: “In the near term, ELT reflected light observations will likely allow us to characterize multiple nearby terrestrial atmospheres and ultimately search for signs of habitability and life.”
Although Earth’s next exploration missions may be focused on Mars, the ELT’s data could provide many opportunities for future astronauts and help determine the direction of our next major space exploration—and perhaps colonisation—efforts.
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