CNN - The search for oxygen on other planets outside of our solar system, called exoplanets, is thought to be an aid in the search for life outside of Earth. Now, astronomers have developed a new method for detecting oxygen on exoplanets, according to a new study published Monday. The scientists believe their new method could speed up the quest for life by making it easier to tell if individual exoplanets could host life on their surfaces by peeking into their atmospheres. For example, if an alien species was searching for life outside of their planet, one of the ways they could tell Earth hosted life is because of the presence of biosignatures, such as oxygen. Individual organisms like plants on Earth produce oxygen through photosynthesis. The new method will rely on detecting the strong signal created when oxygen molecules collide in the atmospheres of exoplanets. The method will be used by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which will be able to peer into the atmospheres of exoplanets and search for this signal.
"Oxygen is one of the most exciting molecules to detect because of its link with life, but we don't know if life is the only cause of oxygen in an atmosphere," said Edward Schwieterman, study co-author and astrobiologist at the University of California, Riverside. "This technique will allow us to find oxygen in planets both living and dead." The presence of oxygen alone in an exoplanet atmosphere is no guarantee that life is present as well. Sometimes oxygen acts like a false positive of a biosignature because it can form in other ways. Some of the exoplanets discovered in recent years are incredibly close to their host stars. In the 2010s, astronomers found that exoplanets were common around cool, M-dwarf stars which are much dimmer than our sun. This means that exoplanets can be closer to their stars.