With thousands of discovered planets orbiting other stars and new missions that will explore our solar system, the search for life in the universe has entered a new era. In order to facilitate the search for extraterrestrial signs of life, namely on the surface of icy exoplanets, an international team including the Técnico researchers Zita Martins, Lígia Coelho, João Canário and Rodrigo Costa, developed a spectra catalogue of life in ice titled “Color Catalogue of Life in Ice: Surface Biosignatures on Icy Worlds”, which featured on the cover of the Astrobiology Magazine, March 2022 issue.
The team also includes researchers from Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Portugal), Laval University (Canada) and Cornell University (USA), namely Lisa Kaltenegger, Director of the Carl Sagan Institute and Associate Professor in the Department of Astronomy, College of Arts & Sciences.
The fieldwork conducted in Kuujjuarapik, Quebec (Canada), by the Técnico PhD student Lígia Coelho, in collaboration with a team from Laval University and with the support of the Centre for Northern Studies (CEN), was crucial for carrying out this study.
Zita Martins, professor at the IST Department of Chemical Engineering (DEQ), researcher at Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE) and founder of the first Astrobiology laboratory in Portugal, explains “the microorganisms included in the catalogue live in extreme conditions in the Arctic, which are similar to those found on icy extraterrestrial environments. These microorganisms produce colourful pigments that are unique. If similar microorganisms exist on icy extraterrestrial environments, the upcoming telescopes will be able to identify the corresponding colourful pigments on the surface of icy exoplanets and exomoons”.
“We are assembling the tools to search for life in the Universe, so as not to miss it, taking all of Earth’s vibrant biosphere into account — even those in the breathtaking chilled places of our Pale Blue Dot”, says Lisa Kaltenegger.
“Having the right tools to detect life forms on icy worlds is fundamental”, said professor Zita Martins, who came up with the idea for this research with Lisa Kaltenegger. “Our study shows that biosignatures are more intense in drier environments, suggesting that locations that are drier than Earth and contain microbial life forms could represent good targets for future space missions”, stressed the Técnico professor.
