Dr. Clara Sousa-Silva explores alien life and how to find it at latest Space Talk presentation
On Nov. 16, 2023, Liberty Science Center hosted Dr. Clara Sousa-Silva, Assistant Professor of Physics at Bard College and a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, for our latest Space Talk presentation: “Alien Life and How to Find It.”
One of the most fundamental questions that astronomers face is whether we are alone in the universe. While we have gotten better at finding planets that orbit around other stars, called exoplanets, it’s still quite the challenging task to figure out whether any of them have life. These exoplanets are too far away for us to directly detect life – so instead, we search for signs that life is there.
In her work, Dr. Sousa-Silva looks for “biosignatures.” Living things create “biosignatures,” which are molecules created by organic processes. Via the largest planetarium in the country, Dr. Sousa-Silva took audiences around the galaxy, showing how signatures can be detected and exploring what they might actually be.
Dr. Sousa-Silva explained how when searching exoplanets, it is important to pick the perfect biosignature to look for. Her work focuses on one biosignature in particular – a molecule called phosphine. Phosphine, as far as research has shown, is only produced by microorganisms living in a very low-oxygen environment. If we found a clear sign of phosphine on another planet, it would be a strong indicator that life could be there as well.
So far, we haven’t discovered phosphine anywhere other than Earth – but as new telescopes are built, and our techniques get better, astronomers like Dr. Sousa-Silva will continue to search.
Below, watch the full presentation in 360 degrees!
Join us on Dec. 14, 2023, for our next Space Talk presentation: “From the Hubble to the Webb,” led by Dr. Joel Green, Hubble Space Telescope Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Explore how the Hubble Space Telescope and now the James Webb Space Telescope help us piece together the mysteries of how stars and solar systems are born. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot now.