Searching for evidence of life on other planets starts with evaluating a few key factors. We study exoplanet habitability as a first step towards finding life, says Pope. First, are planets with pleasant atmospheres and temperatures common? What are they like? And one day we'll be able to find outdo they harbor life?

Given the distance between the Earth and other planetary systems, finding exoplanets in the first place requires high-tech code and high-grade equipment. Astronomers typically use telescopes to detect visible or infrared light from the star. But Pope and a team of researchers recently developed a new method for looking at radio emissions instead, which researchers had been trying to do for decades.

"Working with the Dutch national observatory ASTRON and New Yorks Flatiron Institute, we were able to detect radio waves emitted by a nearby star magnetically connected to its planet and ruled out alternative explanations with optical telescope follow-up," Pope explains. "Planets in orbits like this receive similar amount of light from their stars as the Earth does from the Sun, so you might think they could be green and pleasant. The radio evidence, however, indicates that magnetic connection could be blasting the planets surface with hostile radiationbad news if we were hoping to find life there."

The findings give Pope the feeling that hes one step closer to addressing the deeper questions that first attracted him to astronomy. And the team plans to continue searching for radio signals from exoplanets to understand their usually harsh, irradiated environments.

At a broader level, this is probably our first window into using radio processes to understand exoplanets, Pope says. People have been trying this for decades and weve found the first objects. Its not that weve got a new way of detecting planets, its that we have a new way of understanding them.

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NYU Astronomer Searches for Life, and Meaning, on Other Planets - NYU News