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* Science

# This Telescope Will Search for Life on Distant Planets \[VERTICAL\]

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2VgKcxuk.m3u8" -->
## Video: This Telescope Will Search for Life on Distant Planets VERTICAL

[Watch (HLS stream): This Telescope Will Search for Life on Distant Planets VERTICAL](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2VgKcxuk.m3u8) (2:00)

![This Telescope Will Search for Life on Distant Planets VERTICAL](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2VgKcxuk/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2025-11-14_


---

Dec 2, 2025 7:06 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[What to Know About Scientists Potentially Discovering Hints of Life On A Distant Planet](/video/S53VY1z8/)

### What to Know About Scientists Potentially Discovering Hints of Life On A Distant Planet

[There's New Evidence Of A Distant Ninth Planet In Our Solar System](/video/R5EPZe7o/)

### There's New Evidence Of A Distant Ninth Planet In Our Solar System

[New Earth-like Planets Discovered By NASA's Kepler Telescope](/video/fCApPc72/)

### New Earth-like Planets Discovered By NASA's Kepler Telescope

---


## Transcript

How easy would it be to spot a bug crossing a stadium light from many miles away? An ability to do something similar is how we know exoplanets are out there. We can't see them directly. The stars they orbit look no better than this through Earth telescopes. But when a distant planet passes in front of its star, telescopes can detect that the star dims slightly. Starlight is made up of many wavelengths, including visible light. The colors of the rainbow and invisible near infrared heat. Radiation. Different gases in an atmosphere absorb different wavelengths of light. Measuring how much starlight filtering through the atmosphere is absorbed at each wavelength tells us which gases are present and in what concentrations.

The challenge is that star surfaces are dynamic, which can mask or mimic signals from a planet's atmosphere. If the star is not well understood. The upcoming Pandora telescope will record the star's visible light and the star and planet's near infrared spectrum simultaneously, making it easier to isolate the planet's atmospheric signature. Detecting signs of water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, or other organic components could suggest the planet is not only habitable, but maybe even alive.

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