Searching for life in the Alpha Centauri system
Friday, August 7, 2015 - 08:30
in Astronomy & Space
Biopigments of plants, so-called biological photosynthetic pigments, leave behind unique traces in the light they reflect, an international team has discovered. The scientists studied these biosignatures with the help of polarization filters: If biopigments were present as a sign of life on a planet, they would leave behind a detectable polarized signature in the reflected light.