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| Paper: |
Searching for Life as We Don’t Know It: Detecting Signatures of Planetary-scale Complexity in Exoplanet Atmospheric Spectra |
| Monograph: |
10, HWO25 Proceedings Part I: Community Science Case Development Documents |
| Page: |
325 |
| Authors: |
Sara Walker; Estelle Janin; Evgenya Shkolnik; Louie Slocombe |
| DOI: |
10.26624/NHAE3905 |
| Abstract: |
Detecting extraterrestrial life on exoplanets is a central challenge of 21st-century astronomy. We present a
new, observation-driven framework for life detection that applies Assembly Theory to exoplanet atmospheres,
with the goal of revealing biospheres or technospheres through signatures of chemical complexity in their
atmosphere. Testing this method for Solar System worlds and simulated archetypal exoplanets, including
Hot Jupiters and Super-Earths, has revealed promising results and a distinctive structure in the chemical
space of Modern Earth’s atmosphere, which could serve as a comparative marker for detecting life in other
(possibly very different) atmospheres. These findings underscore the framework’s value as a complementary
approach to biosignatures, less restricted to Earth-like life and habitats, and emphasize its applicability to
current and next-generation observational facilities. Among them, the future Habitable Worlds Observatory
(HWO) is uniquely positioned as NASA’s first telescope dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life
on exoplanets. This Science Case Document describes how our research can inform the design of mission components and observational strategies for HWO-e.g., wavelength coverage and resolution-while
leveraging existing target selection plans and aligning with the broader HWO’s “Living Worlds” science cases. |
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