Posted inAstrochemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones

Detecting Biospheres from Thermodynamic Disequilibrium in Planetary Atmospheres

Atmospheric chemical disequilibrium has been proposed as a method for detecting extraterrestrial biospheres from exoplanet observations. Chemical disequilibrium is potentially a generalized biosignature since it makes no assumptions about particular biogenic gases or metabolisms. Here, we present the first rigorous calculations of the thermodynamic chemical disequilibrium in the atmospheres of Solar System planets, in which […]

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