Scientists are making great strides in the discovery of new Earth-like planets, thanks to a recent technological breakthrough. Researchers believe that this development will help them find a planet similar to our own that orbits a sun-like star. The breakthrough involves the creation of an astrocomb by physicists, which can analyze the blue-green light emitted by stars.
This technology is being developed for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile’s Atacama Desert, which will have a 39-meter primary mirror and will be the largest visible and infrared light telescope in the world. The UK team is also working on developing astrocombs for telescopes in South Africa and the Canary Islands.
Previously, astrocombs were limited to the green-red part of the light spectrum, but the new system offers a chance to uncover more space secrets. Dr. Samantha Thompson from Cambridge University stated that this innovation will enable scientists to study smaller planets on longer orbits than ever before. Meanwhile, Professor Derryck Reid from Heriot-Watt University stated that the shorter wavelength light examined by the new system is rich in atomic absorption features of interest to astronomers.
The new approach provides a continuous sequence of optical markers from the ultraviolet to the blue-green, serving as a precision wavelength scale in this part of the spectrum. With this technology, scientists are hopeful that they will be able to discover new Earth-like planets in the near future.
