PhD project: True and false signatures of habitability and life on exoplanets
Project description
More than 5,000 exoplanets have now been discovered and confirmed; thousands more detections await validation. In coming decades a new generation of space- and ground-based telescopes will collect light transmitted, emitted and reflected by these distant worlds, providing spectra in which the fingerprints of diverse chemical, mineralogical and perhaps biological substances might be detectable. For example, we may be able to: (1) resolve surface reflectance features such as the “vegetation red edge” due to chlorophyll and other biological compounds; (2) observe mineralogical features that shed light on the geological history of exoplanets, including their past and present habitability; (3) test models for exoplanet chemical evolution. To prepare for these exciting future possibilities, it is now critical to catalogue, disambiguate and interpret the spectroscopic features of minerals, biomolecules and other materials relevant to the spectral range and resolution of next-generation telescopes.
This project will focus in particular on generating and analysing reflectance spectra in the visible-to-infrared range, as part of an ongoing collaboration between Edinburgh (Sean McMahon, Beth Biller and the UK Centre for Astrobiology) and Cornell (Lisa Kaltenegger and the Carl Sagan Institute). Using benchtop spectroscopy experiments as well as atmospheric models and telescope simulators, we can formulate and test hypotheses about what to expect from future exoplanet observations. The data we generate will help us to understand not only how to detect spectroscopic biosignatures, but how non-biological features of exoplanets may mimic these signatures of life. They also provide surface albedo input parameters for atmospheric models of these worlds. This project will involve a combination of laboratory spectroscopy and computational approaches and can be flexibly adapted to the interests of the student.
Project supervisors
- Dr Sean McMahon (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
- Professor Beth Biller (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
The project supervisors welcome informal enquiries about this project.
Find out more about this research area
The links below summarise our research in the area(s) relevant to this project:
- Find out more about Astrobiology.
- Find out more about the Institute for Astronomy.
- Find out more about the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems.
What next?
- Find out how to apply for our PhD degrees.
- Find out about fees and funding and studentship opportunities.
- View and complete the application form (on the main University website).
- Find out how to contact us for more information.
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- Browse other Astrobiology projects.
- Browse other Institute for Astronomy projects.
- Browse other Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems projects.
- Browse all PhD research opportunities in the School of Physics & Astronomy.
- Browse PhD research opportunities elsewhere in the University of Edinburgh.