This illustration depicts the extrasolar
planet HD 189733b with its parent star peeking above its top edge.
Image credit: NASA/ESA
UCL space scientists are involved in two out of four missions that have been selected by the European Space Agency to compete for a launch opportunity at the start of the 2020s. EChO - the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory - will search for signs of life on planets which are orbiting stars nearby our sun. Led by Dr Giovanna Tinetti, UCL Physics and Astronomy, and supported by over 150 of Europe's astronomers, the mission conisists of a 1.2 metre telescope designed to carry out spectroscopy of the atmospheres of a range of extra solar planets, from giant gas planets (similar to Jupiter in our own Solar System) down to terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of some stars. "This is tremendously exciting news," said Dr Tinetti. "One of the key aims of our mission is to see if we can detect molecules such as ozone and carbon dioxide in the atmospheres of planets not much bigger than our Earth. These molecules are key biomarkers - signs that life might be, or might have been, present." Dr Tinetti has a strong record in exoplanet research. She led the team that made the first discovery of water in an exoplanet atmosphere, opening up a new era in understanding these alien worlds.
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