Exoplanet haven for life

[tygerarmy]

Exoplanet haven for life?

An image released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) shows an artist's impression of the atmosphere around a super-Earth exoplanet, the name given to rocky exoplanets only a few times larger than our own. Gliese 581d, a rocky world orbiting a nearby star, has been confirmed as the first planet outside our solar system to meet key requirements for sustaining life, scientists say.
Scientists said on Monday a rocky world orbiting a nearby star was confirmed as the first planet outside our solar system to meet key requirements for sustaining life.

[Yla]

Interesting and exciting, but old news.

[Random Guy]

There is one huge problem when it comes to actually determining if there's life on Gliese581d or other such worlds, though. How do we actually confirm such hypotheses? There is nothing I know of that has a high enough resolution to pinpoint large animals, let alone microorganisms, from such a long distance.

[matante]

It's usually assumed that free oxygen means life has to be there to make it, and I don't think the resolution needed to measure the atmosphere's absorption spectrum as it passes in front of its star is unfeasible, though it may not be available yet.

[Ian1732]

I say we go there and fuck it up.

[Old Viking]

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