Indian scientists have developed a state-of-the-art numerical

that can help study the

of

, which “can help probe exoplanetary atmosphere furthering our eternal quest for our friend (

life

) in the universe.”

Prof Sujan K Sengupta from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bengaluru, the lead

said the code generates new grids of transmission spectra for hot Jupiters — a class of

exoplanets — that are inferred to be physically similar to Jupiter but have very short orbital periods.

“Right now all the methods used for observation can only detect a planet, whether it is a giant Jupiter

or Earth-like planet —several rocky planets in the habitable zone have been discovered — and give us the physical properties such as mass, size and temperature. But we need to know the atmosphere if we want to search for life. And when we say life it is not only intelligent life, it could be any form of life,” Sengupta told TOI.

He said their code, the best in the world so far, will look for biosignatures of suitable planets. “If the planet has an atmosphere, some part of the star-light passes through the atmosphere when it transits a star, and gives us information about life on the planet. The plan is to take a spectrum before the planet transit and during the transit and then subtract it. That will tell us what kind of life may be there,” he said.

The code will be used to find signatures of methane, water, carbon-di-oxide among other things. While it has been used to interpret data from the Hubble telescope among others, Sengupta said that its best use will happen when the ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) telescope planned by the

(ESA) is sent up.

In fact, ARIEL’s principle investigator (main scientist) Giovanna Tinetti was keen on the new model and has collaborated with Sengupta. “She visited us and we went to

London

(where Tinetti works) and we’ve now begun working together,” Sengupta said, adding another Indian scientist, Artira Chakrabarty, has also contributed to their work.

“ARIEL is dedicated to getting spectra from such planets. So, once it is up there, or data from the James Webb Space telescope is received, we will be able to use our code in the best possible way as earlier telescopes didn’t have the kind of data needed,” he added.