Produced by: Tarun Mishra
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NASA is developing an advanced "alien-hunting" telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), according to a report by Nature.
The HWO aims to search for a wide variety of biosignatures, which are indicators of living organisms, in the atmospheres of distant planets.
NASA chief scientist Dr. Jessie Christiansen believes that the HWO will find evidence of life on a planet in the habitable zone of a star like our sun within our lifetime.
Scientists working on the project have identified nearly 25 Earth-like planets near sun-like stars as potential candidates for the HWO's investigation.
The HWO's telescope, considered a "Super Hubble," will be capable of directly imaging Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars, providing unprecedented detail.
The observatory will be equipped with a mirror similar to that of the James Webb Space Telescope and ultra-precise optics to thoroughly analyse the atmospheres of these worlds for signs of life.
NASA's exoplanet team, including astronomers, physicists, engineers, and scientists, held a meeting in January in New Orleans to discuss the tools and technologies required for the HWO's mission.
Dr. Courtney Dressing, co-leader of HWO's Science Architecture Review Team (START), proposed that the HWO should be equipped to detect a wide variety of biosignatures, including biogenic gases, surface biosignatures, aerosols, airborne pollutants, and artificial techno signatures.
Dr. Jessie Christiansen from NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute at CalTech expressed optimism that the HWO will provide proof of extraterrestrial life soon after its launch. She stated that within our lifetime, the HWO could detect a signal in the atmosphere of a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun, indicating the presence of life. The telescope is set to be launched around 2040.