New Methane Detector could Boost the Search for Alien Life

Astronomers now have an innovative new tool that is able to detect methane on alien planets. The organic molecule, widely acknowledged to be a sign of potential life, could be the key to finding organisms beyond Earth.

Using advanced supercomputers, researchers from University College London and the University of New South Wales in Sydney developed a new spectrum for "hot" methane which can be used to detect the molecule at temperatures above that of Earth - up to 2,228 degrees Fahrenheit (1,220 degrees Celsius). According to Space.com, this absorption spectrum for methane is 2,000 times more comprehensible than previous models.

Different molecules absorb light in different ways. Astronomers looked at how the atmospheres of exoplanets absorbed starlight of different colors and compared it to a model, or spectrum, to identify which molecules these alien worlds are made of.

"Current models of methane are incomplete, leading to a severe underestimation of methane levels on planets," co-author Professor Jonathan Tennyson said in a press release.

"We anticipate our new model will have a big impact on the future study of planets and 'cool' stars external to our solar system, potentially helping scientists identify signs of extraterrestrial life."

The calculations, led by Dr. Sergei Yurchenko and published in the journal PNAS, resulted in a list of nearly 10 billion spectroscopic lines, each with a distinct color at which methane can absorb light.

The United Kingdom's most powerful supercomputers, provided by the Distributed Research utilizing Advanced Computing (DiRAC) project, made these results possible.

"We had to use a lot of computer power," Yurchenko told Space.com. "It requires millions and millions of CPU [central processing unit] hours."

The new model has been tested and verified by successfully reproducing in detail the way in which the methane in failed stars, called brown dwarfs, absorbs light. Researchers believe it wont be long before methane leads the hunt for extraterrestrial life