What's creating hurdles to find alien worlds? Something as trivial as HAZE

Is there any planet with life? Are there aliens? Is water available on another planet? Scientists and experts have launched various probes to find answers to these intriguing questions. 

One of them was the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is the world's largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space. 

In research published on Monday (Nov 27) in the journal Nature Astronomy, the scientists have noted what makes it difficult to identify water on alien worlds. 

The research, titled "Optical properties of organic haze analogues in water-rich exoplanet atmospheres observable with JWST", stated that hazy atmospheres of exoplanets create hurdles for scientists. 

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During its journey so far, James Webb has done atmospheric characterisation of transiting exoplanets. 

It observed some of the exoplanets to have equilibrium temperatures below 1,000 K, which is a regime where "photochemical hazes are expected to form". 

However, scientists need clear image to analyse what's present in the atmosphere of exoplanets - but something as trivial as haze is making it difficult. 

In common language, haze means an aggregation in the atmosphere of very fine, widely dispersed, solid or liquid particles, or both. It turns the air into an opalescent appearance that subdues colours. 

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This is a very common phenomenon because of the pollution and smog. People living in the Indian capital New Delhi are well aware of this situation. 

The hazes control how they interact with light depending upon their optical properties. The process is critical for interpreting exoplanet observations. 

However, scientists have been simulating these hazy conditions in Earth-based laboratories in order to solve this issue. 

Chao He, who is a researcher at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of a study on these simulations, said in a statement quoted by Space.com: "Water is the first thing we look for when we're trying to see if a planet is habitable, and there are already exciting observations of water in exoplanet atmospheres." 

"But our experiments and modeling suggest these planets most likely also contain haze," Chao added. 

One of the major goals of James Webb is to solve mysteries in our solar system and look beyond to distant worlds around other stars. It also probed the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. 

He added, "This haze really complicates our observations, as it clouds our view of an exoplanet’s atmospheric chemistry and molecular features."  

The researchers have said that the study emphasizes the need to "investigate the optical properties of hazes formed in different exoplanet atmospheres and establishes a practical procedure for determining such properties".