Italian researchers have demonstrated experimentally for the first time that microorganisms can photosynthesize using the infrared-dominated light emitted by the most common type of star in the Milky Way. The results from the Star Light Simulator, presented at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022, suggest that life could develop around stars different from our Sun and produce oxygen-rich worlds that are habitable by more complex organisms.
September 21, 2022
Italian researchers have demonstrated experimentally for the first time that microorganisms can photosynthesize using the infrared-dominated light emitted by the most common type of star in the Milky Way. The results from the Star Light Simulator, presented at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022, suggest that life could develop around stars different from our Sun and produce oxygen-rich worlds that are habitable by more complex organisms.
Most stars in our Milky Way are the smallest type of hydrogen-burning star, known as red M-dwarfs. They are cooler and less luminous than our Sun and primarily emit light in the infrared and far-infrared, with very low emissions at visible wavelengths.
