Could We See Cities On Exoplanets?
The JWST is set to unlock a new type of astronomy
From space, humanities presence is evident. Our sprawling cities light up the dark side of the Earth, making our planet gently glow. Some astronomers have wondered whether distant exoplanets have civilisations with radiant cities too? And, if so, could we solve the mystery of “are we alone” by catching a glimpse of their far off glow? But can even our most advanced telescopes pick up light so far away?
The soon to be launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is at the cutting edge of optical technology. It is like the ground breaking Hubble Space Telescope if it went to the gym and ate only steaks. It is that damn powerful! It was initially designed to peer at galaxies in the far distant Universe. As the light these galaxies emit has travelled for billions of years, the pictures it will take are of a very young Universe. This enables the JWST to study the early state of the Universe and unravel the secrets of how stars, galaxies and the Universe evolved.
However, while the JWST was in development, other telescopes pioneered techniques to discover exoplanets. From observing the wobble…
