A new study shows that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be capable of detecting signs of our civilization on Earth, even if it is positioned in a different star system within the Milky Way.
This discovery raises hopes that the most advanced exploratory devices can detect extraterrestrial civilizations as they look towards distant worlds in our galaxy.
Since its launch in late 2021, JWST has primarily been studying the deepest parts of the universe to seek clues about how the early universe formed. However, one of the telescope’s secondary objectives is to analyze the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets or planets outside our solar system.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) cost $10 billion to build.
Accordingly, JWST can search for types of gases produced by biological life, known as biosignatures, as well as chemicals generated by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, referred to as technosignatures.
However, despite being the most advanced telescope currently operational, it remains unclear how effectively JWST can detect recognizable signs of intelligent life. To answer this question, researchers decided to test whether this space telescope could successfully detect traces of a civilization on Earth, which is also the only planet in the universe that we know can support life and is currently inhabited.
Detection of signs of life on Earth from a distance of 50 light-years
In the new study, uploaded to the open-access database arXiv on August 28, researchers analyzed the spectrum of Earth’s atmosphere. However, this spectrum was deliberately degraded in quality to simulate the “view” from an observer located tens of light-years away.
The research team then utilized a computer model simulating the detection capabilities of JWST to see if the telescope could identify key biosignatures and technosignatures from the modified dataset. For instance, JWST would need to detect the presence of methane and oxygen, produced by biological life, as well as nitrogen dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) generated by human activity.
Notably, the unreviewed results indicate that JWST can indeed detect all significant signs of non-intelligent and intelligent life in the atmosphere of our planet.
The researchers noted that the modified dataset for Earth, “made worse,” has quality almost equivalent to the data JWST obtained when observing the exoplanets of TRAPPIST-1.
Images of exoplanets discovered by the JWST telescope.
This star system contains seven exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star located about 40 light-years from Earth. This suggests that the JWST telescope could detect life or extraterrestrial civilizations on exoplanets within 40 light-years from Earth. However, the research team believes that JWST may even detect signs of life beyond Earth in star systems up to 50 light-years away.
As of now, only about 20 exoplanets have been officially discovered within a 50-light-year radius around Earth. However, based on the number of stars suspected in this region of space, experts estimate that there could be as many as 4,000 exoplanets within the reach of JWST.
This estimate comes from the EDEN Project, an international astronomical collaboration aimed at searching for potentially habitable planets near Earth. However, this does not guarantee that JWST can detect life on other planets.
The researchers wrote: “The detection of biosignatures and technosignatures on other worlds may pose a challenge that requires interpretation without contextual knowledge about the type of environment in which life could exist.“
In this study, the research team knew what signs to look for. But on an exoplanet with different conditions and alternative forms of life or technology, those signs of life may not be clear, according to the researchers.
JWST has made several exciting discoveries about exoplanets near Earth. The telescope has detected water on the Neptune-sized exoplanet GJ 1214b, which is about 40 light-years away. At the same time, JWST also found TRAPPIST-1b, the second closest exoplanet to its host star in the TRAPPIST-1 system, which may not have an atmosphere due to its extreme heat.
This telescope also observed a massive dust storm in the atmosphere of VHS 1256 b, a “super-Jupiter” exoplanet located 40 light-years from Earth.
At a closer distance, JWST has also detected gigantic geysers erupting from Enceladus, Saturn’s moon, which may contain the essential chemical components for life. Furthermore, in the more distant universe, JWST has glimpsed carbon compounds that could foster life in a protostar system over 1,000 light-years away.
