A one of the top Swiss a shared his optimistic view that alien life can be found outside our solar system within 25 years. It's not just fantasy, he thinks it's a matter of probability, our boom on exoplanet , and the incredible telescopes that will be launched in this decade.
Professor of Astrophysics , ETH Zurich, Switzerland, , , , elaborated on his vision at the opening ceremony of the university's new origins of life and the epidemiology center.
"My goal is to find life outside the solar system, yes, it will be a huge challenge. I have 25 years to do this...but let me take you through it and explain why I don't think it's realistic," Professor Quanz told the crowd.
He went on to explain that the mission began in 1995 when we discovered Ermistar, the first planet outside the solar system. More than 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered in a short time since then, and we are discovering new ones almost every day.
"Statistically, each star has a planet, many of which are similar in size to Earth. Many of these planets are separated from stars, and the energy they receive from stars is very similar to that of Earth from the Sun," said Quatz. .
However, it is still difficult to tell whether these planets have an atmosphere and can support life as we know it.
Quanz believes that the super-large telescope (ELT) currently being built in the Atacama Desert in Chile may bring a major breakthrough. Once put into use by the end of the century, the ELT will be equipped with a 39m (130 feet wide) main mirror, which Quanz points out is much larger than JWST.
"The instrument's main goal is to take the first -type earth planet [outside the solar system] that might resemble Earth, orbiting the nearest star," he added.
Ultimately, they want to image dozens of exoplanets and understand their atmosphere. He suggested that once promising candidates are identified, the ESA mission can complete the rest of the work.
This may involve looking at the composition of exoplanet atmospheres and evaluating whether they have been changed by organisms, just like how biological life changes the atmosphere on Earth.
Working with other disciplines, Quanz believes that finding life outside the solar system may succeed in just 25 years.
“Ultimately, I believe the resulting collaboration will allow us to empirically evaluate whether some terrestrial planets show signs of extrasolar biological activity over the next 25 years,” he concluded.
