Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004dps....36.3511k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #36, #35.11; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 36, p.1153
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We suggest that on extrasolar planets on which life has not made the transition to mult-cellular organisms, land surfaces may be covered by bacterial mats, algae, or slimes. If photosynthetic, such land-based, large-scale microbial colonies would show the well-known "red edge" of chlorophylls in their spectra. They would give much stronger spectral signatures for detection of life on extrasolar planets than microbes/algae in oceans or lakes, and their spectra would resemble the chlorophyll signatures of land vegetation. Therefore, life may be detectable on extrasolar planets early in their history, before the relatively late (if similar to Earth) advent of land plants, or if the transition to multicellular life does not occur at all. We show synthetic spectra of land microorganisms on Earth-like extrasolar planets.
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