Martian Life: Astronomers Discover New Method of Detecting Alien Activity

Posted by Staff writer on Oct 07, 2015 06:30 PM EDT

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Aside from giant telescopes and orbiting space satellites, astronomers have devised a new method or formula that would help identify which planet beyond our solar system contains alien life. This new method formulated by astronomers from the University of Washington's Virtual Planetary Laboratory could somehow be liken with an atlas or a alien directory through one may simply "compare and rank exoplanets to help prioritise which of the thousands discovered warrant close inspection in the search for life beyond Earth," said dailymail.

Historically and traditionally, astronomers have focused with the habitable zone or goldilocks zone in their search for alien life. Such method employed is just a sort of 'binary designation', suggesting only whether a certain planet is habitable or not. And with this new method better known as "Habitability Index for Transiting Planets," a continuum of values can now be punched by astronomers into a 'Virtual Planetary Laboratory Web' form in order to arrive at the single-number habitability index. In a less confusing manner, Habitability Index for Transiting Planets works by taking the most significant details of a particular planet that makes life suitable then turns it to a quantifiable data. The gathered facts and figures are then processed through a formula in order to see which among the planets out there would be the best candidate. The Co-author Rory Barnes, via techtimes, stated that

"Basically, we've devised a way to take all the observational data that are available and develop a prioritization scheme. So that as we move into a time when there are hundreds of [planets to consider] available, we might be able to say, 'OK, that's the one we want to start with.' "

And if by chance you wanted to join the search, you just need to keep in mind these important elements of a planet that could have alien life. It should be within the Goldilocks Zone and should have some good rocky terrain for insulation purposes. And in order to sustain life, it should be able to get some energy from the Sun or a nearby star through which it orbits around.