Research Project S. Quanz and D. Vance

A long-term goal of exoplanetary science is to identify habitable planets beyond the Solar System and to search for indications of extraterrestrial life. In this project, we investigate how the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE), a Swiss-led large future exoplanet space mission, can contribute to this goal. Specifically, we quantify how well remotely detectable observational signatures need to be measured by LIFE for observers to conclude that an exoplanet is indeed habitable or inhabited.

Abstract

The Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) is a concept for a future exoplanet space mission that is designed to achieve this ambitious goal. But what are good observational signatures that would indicate a habitable or even inhabited planet? And how well would LIFE have to measure these signatures for scientists to arrive at the conclusions that an object is habitable or inhabited? This project addresses these questions by a combination of exoplanet models, simulated observations and subsequent data analysis. A main focus will be on assessing whether the carbon silicate cycle, which acts as a thermostat on Earth keeping our planet habitable, and disequilibrium chemistry in an atmosphere, as created by biosignature gases such as oxygen and methane, can be directly and robustly observed on exoplanets and then reliably used to classify object as habitable and/or inhabited.