Exoplanet Atmospheres

With the number of exoplanets well into the hundreds and headed into the thousands in short order, and with the discovery of worlds increasingly similar to Earth occurring at a quickening pace, scientists are looking at the next step in the search for other life in the universe.

That next step is the detailed study of exoplanet atmospheres.  Teasing out the chemical makeup of an atmosphere can reveal the likelihood of life there.  Carbon dioxide or/and oxygen present, for example, would be interesting.  Of course, the existence of complex compounds created on Earth only by industrial processes would be close to a deal clincher.

Some examination of exoplanet atmospheres can be done with the largest Earth-based telescopes, but the real work might have to wait for the next generation of observing spacecraft.