ELT in Chile could detect life signs quickly

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being built in northern Chile and will be the largest ground-based telescope ever made. It will have a main mirror 39 meters wide, allowing it to collect much more light than previous telescopes. The ELT is set to begin operations in 2028, and researchers expect it to produce important data quickly. One of the ELT's main functions will be to analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system. It will do this by studying light from stars as it passes through a planet's atmosphere. This method helps scientists identify molecules like water and carbon dioxide. Previous telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope have already begun this work. However, some existing data has been unclear. For instance, research on the TRAPPIST-1 system showed that certain planets might not have atmospheres, but the evidence wasn't strong enough to be certain. The ELT's enhanced capability should help clarify these findings. The new study focused on nearby red dwarf stars, which have many potential exoplanets. Researchers tested several types of Earth-like worlds to see if the ELT could discern between them. They wanted to know if the ELT could suggest that a lifeless planet has life or vice versa. The results indicate that the ELT could identify signs of life on planets around Proxima Centauri with just 10 hours of observation. For larger, Neptune-like planets, it could take about an hour to gather useful data. If there is life in nearby star systems, the ELT might be able to find it in just a few years.