Detectability of life and photosynthesis on exoplanets.
Björn, Lars Olof LU
; Papageorgiou, George C.
; Dravins, Dainis
LU
and Govindjee, Govindjee
(2009)
In Current Science
96(9).
p.1171-1175
- Abstract
- ‘Is there life on exoplanets?’. We refer to exoplanets as planets in other solar systems than our own. This often
asked question can be further refined by asking ‘is there life on exoplanets which is so extensive that it may
impact on its atmosphere, its biosphere and its optical properties?’. And if such a life exists, at astronomical
distances from us, can we detect it with instruments on Earth-based or Earth-orbiting observatories? Will
then, in that case, our advanced knowledge of present-day and early-day photosynthesis on Earth help us
select appropriate biosignatures that may signal its presence? Here we elaborate further on these themes,
based on the most recent literature, and... (More) - ‘Is there life on exoplanets?’. We refer to exoplanets as planets in other solar systems than our own. This often
asked question can be further refined by asking ‘is there life on exoplanets which is so extensive that it may
impact on its atmosphere, its biosphere and its optical properties?’. And if such a life exists, at astronomical
distances from us, can we detect it with instruments on Earth-based or Earth-orbiting observatories? Will
then, in that case, our advanced knowledge of present-day and early-day photosynthesis on Earth help us
select appropriate biosignatures that may signal its presence? Here we elaborate further on these themes,
based on the most recent literature, and from the point of view of photosynthesis. We also provide our considered
views. Although search for chlorophyll is considered desirable, we conclude that our best bet is to
look for and analyse photosynthesis-related gases, namely O2, CO2 and H2O vapour. We shall keep in mind
that the evolutionary tree of life on our planet has its roots in autotrophy, and of the various forms of autotrophy,
only oxygenic (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1420217
- author
- Björn, Lars Olof
LU
; Papageorgiou, George C.
; Dravins, Dainis
LU
and Govindjee, Govindjee
- organization
- publishing date
- 2009
- type
- Contribution to specialist publication or newspaper
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- chlorophyll, detectability, life, photosynthesis, spectrum
- categories
- Popular Science
- in
- Current Science
- volume
- 96
- issue
- 9
- pages
- 1171 - 1175
- publisher
- Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000266405600011
- scopus:67650309218
- ISSN
- 0011-3891
- project
- Popular science
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7ef3cd5a-7592-418a-b2a5-f50152e9db5c (old id 1420217)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:13:29
- date last changed
- 2024-04-10 16:55:19
@misc{7ef3cd5a-7592-418a-b2a5-f50152e9db5c,
abstract = {{‘Is there life on exoplanets?’. We refer to exoplanets as planets in other solar systems than our own. This often<br/><br>
asked question can be further refined by asking ‘is there life on exoplanets which is so extensive that it may<br/><br>
impact on its atmosphere, its biosphere and its optical properties?’. And if such a life exists, at astronomical<br/><br>
distances from us, can we detect it with instruments on Earth-based or Earth-orbiting observatories? Will<br/><br>
then, in that case, our advanced knowledge of present-day and early-day photosynthesis on Earth help us<br/><br>
select appropriate biosignatures that may signal its presence? Here we elaborate further on these themes,<br/><br>
based on the most recent literature, and from the point of view of photosynthesis. We also provide our considered<br/><br>
views. Although search for chlorophyll is considered desirable, we conclude that our best bet is to<br/><br>
look for and analyse photosynthesis-related gases, namely O2, CO2 and H2O vapour. We shall keep in mind<br/><br>
that the evolutionary tree of life on our planet has its roots in autotrophy, and of the various forms of autotrophy,<br/><br>
only oxygenic}},
author = {{Björn, Lars Olof and Papageorgiou, George C. and Dravins, Dainis and Govindjee, Govindjee}},
issn = {{0011-3891}},
keywords = {{chlorophyll; detectability; life; photosynthesis; spectrum}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{9}},
pages = {{1171--1175}},
publisher = {{Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences}},
series = {{Current Science}},
title = {{Detectability of life and photosynthesis on exoplanets.}},
volume = {{96}},
year = {{2009}},
}