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SEQUENCE:5
UID:UW-Physics-Event-9580
DTSTART:20260423T203000Z
DTEND:20260423T213000Z
DTSTAMP:20260413T084202Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260212T134210Z
LOCATION:4421 Sterling Hall
SUMMARY:The Virtual Planetary Laboratory and the Search for Signs of L
 ife on Exoplanets\, Astronomy Colloquium\, Victoria Meadows\, Senior R
 esearch Scientist\, SETI Institute
DESCRIPTION:The Virtual Planetary Laboratory is a massively interdisci
 plinary research group that has been working since 2001 to put a stron
 g scientific foundation under the search for signs of life on exoplane
 ts. This exciting quest was identified as a high priority in both the 
 Astro2020 and planetary science decadal reviews\, and it is a key scie
 nce driver for NASA’s next flagship space telescope\, the Habitable 
 Worlds Observatory. To search for life on an exoplanet we must look fo
 r potentially-detectable global impacts of life on its planetary envir
 onment\, such as atmospheric gases released by metabolic processes. Ho
 wever\, these biosignatures must be interpreted in the context of thei
 r planetary environment\, to rule out planetary processes such as volc
 anism and photochemistry that may enhance\, destroy or mimic a targete
 d biosignature. Consequently\, to determine if a biosignature is more 
 or less likely to be due to life\, a broad range of information on pla
 netary and stellar properties and processes must also be acquired. Dep
 ending on wavelength range\, size\, and whether ground- or space-based
 \, different telescopes will be capable of advancing the search for li
 fe in different ways\, ultimately providing synergistic pieces of a mu
 ch larger puzzle.  In this talk I will describe the potential capabili
 ties for biosignature searches using high-resolution spectroscopy with
  ground-based telescopes and low resolution spectroscopy with JWST\, a
 nd I will place these opportunities in the context of what might be po
 ssible with space-based telescopes over the next two decades.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=9580
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