Alien oceans could be detected by Next Generation Telescopes

[Modbert]

BBC News - Alien oceans could be detected by telescopes

The next generation of telescopes could reveal the presence of oceans on planets outside our Solar System.

Detecting water on Earth-like planets offers the tantalising prospect they could sustain life.

Scientists hope the reflection of light, or "glint", from mirror-like ocean surfaces could be picked up by a US space telescope set for launch in 2014.

The goal is to find something Earth-like in almost every sense of the world so we can even prove it has liquid oceans on its surface."

This kind of ocean could be the signature of a planet where life had developed in the same way as it did on our own planet.

This is really awesome and can't wait to see what they come up with. I recommend reading the entire article as well, much longer than what I posted due to copyright.

 

[Trajan]

thx.

Thats a huge step forward, if they can do it on a wide/deep field, that would be a huge time saver as well.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

How funny would it be of the aliens knew we were looking at then and shine a mirror at us so we'd think it's water, but when we get there, it's a desert!?

Well, OK, maybe that's not funny.