Signs of Alien Landshape Modification: Possibilities Explored
In a groundbreaking study, scientists have suggested that the James Webb Telescope could be used to detect signs of technologically advanced civilizations on other planets, not through radio signals, but through the presence of artificial greenhouse gases in their atmospheres.
The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, focuses on the potential presence of these gases on TRAPPIST-1f, one of the seven rocky worlds in the TRAPPIST system-1 located about 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius.
Researchers have identified five "artificial" greenhouse gases that could serve as distinctive markers if they are abundant in the atmospheres of exoplanets. These include fluorinated versions of methane, ethane, and propane, as well as species consisting of nitrogen and fluorine or sulfur and fluorine.
The presence of these gases in the atmosphere of a distant planet would suggest a capacity to produce complex substances and a technological mastery sufficient for large-scale applications. If an alien civilization emits large numbers of these gases into its atmosphere to make its world more habitable, the James Webb Telescope might be able to spot them.
The instruments aboard the James Webb Telescope are capable of detecting greenhouse gases artificially produced at the level of abundance required for climate engineering. For instance, sulfur hexafluoride, one of the gases studied, has a global warming potential 23,500 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, and these artificial gases have exceptionally long lifespans, meaning they could persist in an Earth-like atmosphere for 50,000 years.
The detection of these gases on TRAPPIST-1f could provide valuable insights into the technological capabilities and potential presence of extraterrestrial life in the TRAPPIST system-1. Moreover, it could offer clues to the motivations and goals of an extraterrestrial civilization in exploring and transforming the surrounding universe.
This research aligns with expanding habitability concepts beyond water-based biosignatures and traditional gases towards engineered atmospheric constituents signalling intelligent intervention. Detecting such gases could reveal civilizations capable of planetary-scale environmental manipulation and could guide where to search for other technosignatures and signals.
In summary, identifying fluorinated greenhouse gases representing technosignatures on exoplanets would be evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations with industrial-level chemistry and active motivations, likely terraforming, to reshape their environment for habitability or other purposes. This discovery could revolutionise our understanding of the universe and the potential for life beyond Earth.
[1] For a more detailed discussion on this topic, please refer to the study published in The Astrophysical Journal.
- The study in The Astrophysical Journal proposed using the James Webb Telescope to detect technologically advanced civilizations on other planets by looking for artificial greenhouse gases in their atmospheres, such as fluorinated versions of methane, ethane, and propane, or species consisting of nitrogen and fluorine or sulfur and fluorine.
- The presence of these gases on TRAPPIST-1f, one of the seven rocky worlds in the TRAPPIST system-1, would suggest a civilization capable of producing complex substances and displaying technological mastery sufficient for large-scale applications.
- If an alien civilization emits large amounts of these gases to make its world more habitable, the James Webb Telescope might be able to identify them, which could revolutionize our understanding of the universe and the potential for life beyond Earth.
