Looking to Ancient Earth to Study Exoplanets

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Team Looks to Ancient Earth First to Study Hazy Exoplanets

Quote

For astronomers trying to understand which distant planets might have habitable conditions, the role of atmospheric haze has been hazy. To help sort it out, a team of researchers has been looking to Earth – specifically Earth during the Archean era, an epic 1-1/2-billion-year period early in our planet’s history.

Earth’s atmosphere seems to have been quite different then, probably with little available oxygen but high levels of methane, ammonia and other organic chemicals. Geological evidence suggests that haze might have come and gone sporadically from the Archean atmosphere – and researchers aren’t quite sure why. The team reasoned that a better understanding of haze formation during the Archean era might help inform studies of hazy earthlike exoplanets.

  Read More: NASA

 

[taniwha]

It would make a lot more sense to study exoplanets to understand the ancient Earth. 

A telescopes a time machine after all 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

3 hours ago, taniwha said:

It would make a lot more sense to study exoplanets to understand the ancient Earth. 

A telescopes a time machine after all 

You haven't understood the point of the article at all (do you actually read any of them before commenting?)

Nor do you understand the limitations of telescopes,

Most of these exoplanets can't even be seen separately by even the most powerful telescopes, those that can are just a point of light. The atmospheric composition can, however, be determines by a technique called spectroscopy,

Since this is all the data we have on these exoplanets, but we have a large amount of data on the ancient Earth, it follows that we understand the ancient Earth far better than we understand the exoplanets, In other words,with current technology, trying to understand the ancient Earth by studying these exoplanets not only ,makes no sense but is impossible.

[taniwha]

3 hours ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

You haven't understood the point of the article at all (do you actually read any of them before commenting?)

Nor do you understand the limitations of telescopes,

Most of these exoplanets can't even be seen separately by even the most powerful telescopes, those that can are just a point of light. The atmospheric composition can, however, be determines by a technique called spectroscopy,

Since this is all the data we have on these exoplanets, but we have a large amount of data on the ancient Earth, it follows that we understand the ancient Earth far better than we understand the exoplanets, In other words,with current technology, trying to understand the ancient Earth by studying these exoplanets not only ,makes no sense but is impossible.

In anycase it's going to be a whole lot easier looking for haze than it is for life.

And of course being an exoplanet with habitable haze doesn't mean it is inhabited at all, or now, or ever will be.  

At what stage of "haze" do they think the Earth went from being "habitable" to having life?  That much they don't know.

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

44 minutes ago, taniwha said:

At what stage of "haze" do they think the Earth went from being "habitable" to having life?  That much they don't know.

Actually, yes they do.

Life on Earth began around 3.8 billion years ago,during the Archean era... exactly the era that the scientists are comparing the exoplanets with.

[taniwha]

17 hours ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Actually, yes they do.

Life on Earth began around 3.8 billion years ago,during the Archean era... exactly the era that the scientists are comparing the exoplanets with.

Oh, yes, of course.

Life was so much simpler then....