Life Beyond Earth

© ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger

How do we confidently detect life beyond Earth?

What tools are at our disposal to find life in the universe? How can spectropolarimetry be used to detect life? What biosignatures exist on Earth and beyond? How does the study of life on Earth help us detect living organisms on other planetary bodies? What technology is needed to detect life?

 

This page is currently under construction. More information will be available soon.

B-O. Demory, M. Fatton, L. Patty, J. Grone, L. Brandenburg, G. Nivlet, U. Schroffenegger

SenseLife: The Search for Life Beyond Earth

One of the most intriguing questions is whether life exists beyond Earth. To date, no direct evidence has been found, yet habitable conditions exist elsewhere in the Universe. SenseLife develops an advanced optical instrument, a full-Stokes spectropolarimeter called FlyPol. FlyPol analyzes the polarization state of light and searches for distinct polarization features produced by biological matter. In an interdisciplinary effort, we combine microbiology, optics, and engineering to search for microscopic life on planetary bodies within our Solar System.