What are the minimum requirements of planetary atmospheres that might either support life or indicate the presence of life?
According to our present, limited, understanding, the minimum prerequisites for life are liquid water, certain elements, and a source of energy to drive complex chemical reactions. Beyond our solar system, the search for such conditions is limited to examining the range of distances around nearby stars called the “habitable zone,” where the surface temperature on a planet can support liquid water with appropriate atmospheric pressures. The spectral signatures of molecules can be used to infer the composition and physical conditions in the atmospheres of planets. The mid infrared wavelengths (7-17 µm) contain strong spectral features of key gases, including CO2, H2O, and O3, that can be detected with modest spectral resolution. The distance of the planet from its parent star, its total infrared brightness and temperature, and the strength of the CO2 and H2O lines together can provide a rich characterization of a planet’s surface conditions. Also, the presence of large quantities of O2 i
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