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Me Gustaría Dirigir Una Misión 'Starshade' Para Encontrar Un Gemelo De La Tierra

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Me Gustaría Dirigir Una Misión 'Starshade' Para Encontrar Un Gemelo De La Tierra CIENCIAS SARA SEAGER, PROFESORA DE FÍSICA Y CIENCIA PLANETARIA EN EL MIT “Me gustaría dirigir una misión ‘starshade’ para encontrar un gemelo de la Tierra” Esta astrofísica del Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (EE UU) está empeñada en observar un planeta extrasolar parecido al nuestro y, para poderlo ver, su sueño es desplegar un enorme ‘girasol’ en el espacio que oculte la cegadora luz de su estrella anfitriona. Es una de las aventuras en las que está embarcada y que cuenta en su último libro, Las luces más diminutas del universo, una historia de amor, dolor y exoplanetas. Enrique Sacristán 30/7/2021 08:30 CEST Sara Seager y uno de los pósteres de exoplanetas (facilitados por el Jet Propulsion Laboratory) que adornan el pasillo de su despacho en el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts. / MIT/JPL- NASA Con tan solo diez años quedó deslumbrada por el cielo estrellado durante una acampada, una experiencia que recomienda a todo el mundo: “Este año la lluvia de meteoros de las perseidas, alrededor del 12 de agosto, cae cerca de una luna nueva, por lo que el cielo estará especialmente oscuro y habrá buenas condiciones para observar las estrellas fugaces”, nos adelanta la astrofísica Sara Seager. Nació en julio de 1971 en Toronto (Canadá) y hoy es una experta mundial en la búsqueda de exoplanetas, en especial los similares a la Tierra y con CIENCIAS indicios de vida. Se graduó en su ciudad natal y se doctoró en Harvard; luego pasó por el Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Princeton y el Instituto Carnegie de Washington; hasta que en 2007 se asentó como profesora en el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT). Seager acaba de publicar Las luces más diminutas del universo (Ed. Paidós- Planeta), donde narra los desafíos profesionales a los que se ha tenido que enfrentar a lo largo de su carrera y también los personales, tras la muerte por cáncer de su padre y de su primer marido. Tu padre hubiera preferido que estudiaras medicina como él, pero insististe en ser astrónoma. ¿Qué consejo les darías a esos jóvenes que dudan sobre qué carrera elegir? Encuentra algo que te guste hacer y que además se te dé muy bien. Esta es la receta para el éxito y la satisfacción. Aunque es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo. Si aun así no fuera posible, asegúrate de formarte en un trabajo seguro y bien remunerado. ¡Seguramente esa es la opinión de tus padres! Cuando hoy miras hacia atrás, ¿cuál crees que ha sido tu principal contribución a la ciencia? Mi principal contribución a la ciencia ha sido la invención y el desarrollo de nuevos métodos para estudiar las atmósferas de los exoplanetas, incluido el método de los espectros de transmisión en tránsito, el más utilizado hoy en día La invención y el desarrollo de nuevos métodos para estudiar las atmósferas de los exoplanetas, incluido el método de los espectros de transmisión en tránsito [observar el espectro electromagnético de una estrella anfitriona a medida que se filtra por la atmósfera del planeta durante su tránsito], el más utilizado hoy en día para estudiar las atmósferas de los planetas fuera del sistema solar. CIENCIAS Has participado en el desarrollo de telescopios espaciales, desde pequeños como ASTERIA (demostrador de minitelescopio en un CubeSat para realizar mediciones astrofísicas) hasta otros mayores como TESS (Satélite de Sondeo de Exoplanetas en Tránsito). ¿Cuál es su situación actual? Tras su exitosa misión de dos años, que comenzó en noviembre de 2017 (cuando se puso en órbita desde la Estación Espacial Internacional), ASTERIA perdió capacidad en diciembre de 2019 y se desorbitó como estaba previsto en abril de 2020. Respecto a TESS, ha entrado también con éxito en el cuarto año de su misión, con más de 130 nuevos exoplanetas confirmados y la observación de más de 4000 candidatos a planeta. En tu libro comentas que observar un exoplaneta es como ver una luciérnaga al lado de un gran foco. Para tapar esa potente luz estelar estáis desarrollando prototipos de grandes pantallas en el espacio que permitan a los telescopios ver bien esos pequeños mundos. ¿Cómo va este proyecto de ‘sombrilla solar’ (starshade)? El desarrollo de esta tecnología está en curso. Los equipos que participamos estamos a la espera de los resultados de la Encuesta Decadal de Astronomía y Astrofísica (una revisión de la literatura en esos campos realizada cada diez años por la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de EE UU con el objetivo de establecer prioridades de investigación) para saber si alguna de las muchas opciones de starshade tiene posibilidades de ser financiada en su totalidad. CIENCIAS Algunos proyectos en los que has participado al final se cancelaron, como el Buscador de Planetas Terrestres (TPF) de la NASA. ¿Se aprende en cualquier caso? Aprendí que los proyectos extremadamente ambiciosos y complejos requieren su tiempo. De todas formas, el trabajo realizado se documentó y siguió adelante parte de él (el desarrollo de un coronógrafo –dispositivo acoplado a un telescopio para bloquear la luz directa de una estrella y ver sus objetos próximos–), por lo que la inversión no se perdió. Tu búsqueda de exoplanetas se centra especialmente en los que podrían albergar vida. ¿Piensas que la vida es algo común en el universo y que puede aparecer en varios mundos a la vez? Sí, aunque ‘común’ es un término relativo. Por ejemplo, si la vida surgiera solo en uno de cada millón de planetas, seguirá habiendo otra vida en nuestra galaxia (donde se estima que hay miles de millones de planetas) y más allá. Y en la Tierra, ¿crees que surgió aquí o que vino de fuera a bordo de algún objeto como señala la teoría de la panspermia? Creo que la vida surgió aquí, pero todavía estoy esperando a que los CIENCIAS expertos en el origen de la vida descubran cómo se originó. La panspermia no ayuda porque la vida tendría que haberse iniciado en algún lugar. Si tuvieras que clasificar los cinco planetas o lunas con mayor probabilidad de tener vida en el sistema solar, ¿cómo los ordenarías? Podría existir vida microbiana en las nubes de Venus, en capas de la atmósfera muy por encima de la superficie, pero necesitamos mediciones in situ, así que tendremos que esperar para saber si se ajustan a las condiciones de habitabilidad El primero, Marte, ya que tiene lagos de agua subterráneos (se piensa que podrían ser bastante salados) y podría haber microbios sobreviviendo en ellos o en otros pequeños reductos habitables. Luego, Venus: durante décadas se ha postulado que podría existir algún tipo de vida microbiana en sus nubes, en capas de la atmósfera muy por encima de la superficie que tienen una temperatura adecuada para la vida. Pero necesitamos más información de las mediciones in situ, así que habrá que esperar para saber si esas capas de nubes realmente se ajustan a las condiciones de habitabilidad. Y después, cualquiera de las lunas con líquido, incluyendo a Europa, Encélado (agua líquida) y Titán. La búsqueda de vida en la nubes de Venus centra también tus investigaciones actuales, pero acaba de publicarse un estudio que descarta esa posibilidad: indica que esas nubes son “inhabitables” por la escasa actividad del agua. ¿Qué opinas? No creo que ese estudio descarte que haya vida en Venus, y coincido con lo que apunta, por ejemplo, el astrobiólogo David Grinspoon [considera que el nuevo trabajo es sólido en cuanto a los cálculos (actividad del agua en función de las concentraciones de ácido sulfúrico) pero que las conclusiones son muy confusas porque sabemos menos de la atmósfera de Venus y de la CIENCIAS naturaleza de la vida de lo que pretenden sus autores]. Venus captado por la sonda Mariner 10. Los científicos debaten sobre si en sus nubes de ácido sulfúrico puede haber zonas favorables para la vida. / NASA / JPL / Mattias Malmer Hay otros estudios recientes que indican que algunas partículas de las nubes de Venus no son tan secas y tienen una acidez más favorable para la vida que el paradigma actual. Pero la propia investigación de mi equipo siempre hace hincapié en que las condiciones de las nubes venusianas son increíblemente duras para la vida, incluida la sequedad. Por tanto, no estoy en desacuerdo con los hallazgos del nuevo artículo, solo con sus conclusiones generales. ¿Qué gases atmosféricos nos ayudarán a descubrir signos de vida en los exoplanetas? Viendo las controversias sobre la fosfina en Venus y el metano en Marte, parece que será difícil ponerse de acuerdo cuando se informe de un signo de vida en un exoplaneta Personalmente mi favorito sigue siendo el oxígeno, pero hay una lista de CIENCIAS otros como el amoníaco, la fosfina, el metano, el cloruro de metilo y otros. Me alegro de que hagas hincapié en signos de vida y no en la vida misma. Dadas las controversias sobre la fosfina en Venus y el debate de 15 años sobre el metano en Marte [en ambos casos se duda si pudiera ser de origen biológico o no] parece que la comunidad científica tendrá dificultades para ponerse de acuerdo una vez que se informe sobre un signo de vida en un exoplaneta. De los más de 4.000 exoplanetas descubiertos, ¿apostarías que alguno pudiera tener vida? Esperaré a tener más información del telescopio espacial James Webb o de los grandes telescopios terrestres que se están construyendo actualmente (como el Extremely Large Telescope de 39 metros en el desierto de Atacama, en Chile). ¿Qué esperas del telescopio James Webb que se lanza este otoño? Hasta ahora, los astrónomos han establecido que los exoplanetas existen y que los rocosos pequeños son comunes. Mi esperanza con el James Webb es que dé el siguiente paso para establecer que existen planetas rocosos con vapor de agua.
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