Team wonders about CFCs in exoplanet atmospheres.
While the above headline is flippant, the research attempts are not.
A team of scientists across the nation is working on observing planets orbiting other stars, looking for signs of greenhouse gas emissions.
Doctor Jacob Haqq-Misra tells KTOK, chlorofluorocarbons, once widely used as a refrigerant and aerosol propellant, linger in a planet's atmosphere.
"If we saw an awful lot of CFCs, that as far as we know doesn't correspond to any non-technological process."
He said in other words, CFCs aren't expected to occur naturally.
Haqq-Misra said the presence of greenhouse gases like CFCs could indicate an advanced civilization. An indication of an industrialized world.
Haqq-Misra and others at the Blue Marble Science Institute of Space are looking at developing computer models of exoplanet atmospheres.
More on the astrophysicists' work can be found on the group's website. http://www.bmsis.org/publications.
Blue Marble Science Institute of Space is raising independent funding for research, which is not affiliated with any university or other entity. Details are available at:
petridish.org
