Black holes:
2024.10.30
How can we detect whether there is life on other planets?
Are there places on Earth that are too cold or too dry for any form of life to exist? Can we define what life is?
Jens-Martin-Knudsen Mars simulation chamber - control of the temperature, pressure, atmospheric composition, and radiation field.
Which chemical reactions are important for the atmospheric structure?
Studies of the conditions on Earth, Mars, and exoplanets and how life affects the large-scale structure of their atmospheres.
Centre for ExoLife Sciences (CELS)
The Centre for ExoLife Sciences (CELS) is a collaboration between three institutes at University of Copenhagen, the Niels Bohr Institute, the Department of Biology, and the Department of Chemistry. The research is focused on studies of the conditions on Earth, Mars, and exoplanets and how life affects the large-scale structure of their atmospheres.
A Unique Species on a Unique Planet? -- conference summary 2024
All the talks presented at the conference were filmed, and can now be seen at the conference home page together with a semi-popular summary of the conference, links to uploaded posters in pdf format, links to a great number of media articles about the conference, and links to podcast and video interviews with some of the speakers and organizers.
The aim of the Centre for ExoLife Sciences (CELS) is to improve our understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological conditions on the terrestrial planets in our own solar system and on planets around other stars, so-called exoplanets.
Funding the Center
The activities of the centre are based on major contributions from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (under the NNF Interdisciplinary Synergy Program grant no. NNF19OC0057374; Effects of bacteria on atmospheres of Earth, Mars, and exoplanets -- adapting and identifying life in extraterrestrial environments) and the European Union (Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant no. 860470, CHAMELEON), from 2020 to 2025, and additional support from the Carlsberg Foundation (infra-structure grant CF18-0552), Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC in the UK), DFF (grant # 9040-00142B, Chiral Selectivity in Atmospheric Autoxidation), and the AP Sloan Foundation (grant # G-2019-12281).
A collaboration between three institutes
The NNF synergy project is a collaboration between three institutes at University of Copenhagen, the Niels Bohr Institute, the Department of Biology, and the Department of Chemistry, which are at present at four locations at North and City Campus, i.e. at Blegdamsvej 17, Øster Voldgade 5, and Universitetsparken 5 and 15. When the new Niels Bohr Building is finalized and ready for moving in, we will all be situated in the area of Universitetsparken at North Campus of University of Copenhagen.
The CHAMELEON project is a double degree PhD network between 6 European universities in Copenhagen (Denmark), St Andrews (Scotland), Groningen (Holland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Leuven (Belgium) and Antwerp (Belgium).
The centre is also administrating the Danish 1.54m (DK1.54m) telescope at ESO’s La Silla observatory in Chile based on support from The Niels Bohr Institute, The Carlsberg Foundation, the STFC in UK, and various universities. We are operating the MiNDSTEp project from the DK1.54m telescope in the search and characterization of exoplanets.
The project
To help increase our understanding of the effects of life on the composition, structure and evolution of the atmosphere of Earth, Mars, and exoplanets, we collect microorganisms at remote and extreme places on Earth. We then expose them to challenging conditions in laboratory experiments and measure the changes this cause in their metabolism and exhaust gasses.
In the chemistry lab we, measure the spectral absorption of these gasses and then include their signatures into computer models of exoplanet atmospheres, including models on the influence of bacteria on cloud formation. This will allow us to quantify the amount of biological activity that is necessary in order to cause measurable imprints on the observable exoplanet spectra.
The imprints could be caused by microorganisms similar to those we experiment with in the laboratory, but could also be of a more general character.
CELS research is focused on studies of the conditions on Earth, Mars, and exoplanets and how life affects the large-scale structure of their atmospheres.
Questions that interest us include: How can we detect whether there is life on other planets? What determines the structure and composition of the surface and atmosphere of exoplanets? Which chemical reactions are important for the atmospheric structure? Is cloud formation affected by bacteria? Do clouds facilitate the globalization of life once it settles somewhere?
Are there places on Earth that are too cold or too dry for any form of life to exist? Can we define what life is? How does radiation affect the atmosphere? Are there molecules, or combination of molecules, that can only exist in the atmosphere if biology is involved?
Our research facilities and numerical modelling include:
The Jens-Martin-Knudsen Mars simulation chamber
This is a small home-build chamber where we can control the temperature, pressure, atmospheric composition, and radiation field. Here we extract small quantities of exhaust gas from experiments with live bacteria for further analysis in the chemistry lab.
The chamber also includes a built-in mass spectrometer that can give a first impression of the composition of the produced gas.
Field collection of bacteria and other microorganisms
We can collect information from cold areas in Northern Greenland, as well as hot and dry areas on the Earth about the metabolism of bacteria from a wide range of conditions. Of particular interest for conditions on Mars are perchlorate-reducing bacteria from the Atacama Desert, Chile.
Microorganisms are known to produce a large number of gasses and volatile organic compounds with strong effects on atmospheres.
We will investigate how microbial activity can affect atmospheric composition and properties, and how bacteria can influence cloud formation in different atmospheres.
Numerical models of the structure and spectra of planets and stars reveal the composition of their atmosphere
L-dwarfs and T-dwarfs are stars, brown dwarfs or hot exoplanets, in the temperature range around 1000 K to 2000 K.
The drawing show examples of cloud layers of different heights in their atmospheres. Such clouds are not made of water droplets as on Earth, but could be droplets of metals or stones, dependent on the temperature and chemical composition of the atmospheres.
The red curve in the lower figure is an observed spectrum of an L-dwarf, together with our calculated spectrum in black based on our simulations of the structure and composition of the atmosphere.
By performing such simulations we learn about the conditions of the atmosphere.
Comparing well modelled spectra of exoplanets with observations may in a few years reveal the first signs of extraterrestrial life
Spectra of the Earth itself show clear signs of methane-producing microorganisms (CH4), photosynthesis (oxygen in the form of O3), and the existence of liquid water (H2O). Mars’ and Venus’ spectra show two lifeless planets with only CO2 in their spectra.
What will spectra of the first Earth-like exoplanets show?
If life affects the atmosphere on large scale, as on Earth, we will be able to see it in the spectra of nearby exoplanets from the coming ELT telescope.
Molecular Spectroscopy
With use of purchased spectrometers (FT-IT, UV-vis) and home-built more sensitive spectrometers (cavity ring down, CRD, and photoacoustic laser, PAS) we record spectra of molecules.
We complement this experimental work with calculations of spectra with standard code and code developed in our group.
Modeling chemical reactions
Based on quantum chemical calculations, we model chemical reaction mechanisms and kinetics of these.
This often leads to new reactions not previously considered, and we estimate the effect of these new reactions in chemical models.
Modeling life-climate interactions
Super-computer simulations of individual convective cloud cells in a 480 km x 480 km area near the top of the planetary (here Earth) boundary layer.
- Blue are regions of high moist, while red represent dry regions Bacteria can influence the cloud formation, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei.
- Since clouds are essential for the atmospheric energy balance, bacteria can affect the energy budget of a planet’s atmosphere.
Modelling the bacteria-cloud interaction may therefore reveal bacteria in exoplanet atmospheres, and at the same time give information about how bacteria may spread globally and influence the state of the environment they are living within.
CELS is at present (i.e. 2022/23) involved in teaching the following courses:
Exoplanets & AstrobiologyA graduate course (MSc and PhD) about how the complexity of matter has evolved from its simplest forms during Big Bang to the rise of intelligent life. The course goes through how the first elements originated during the Big Bang, how processing through generations of stars lead to gas and dust that formed the building blocks of the first planetary systems, and how this eventually lead to the diversity of exoplanets we see today. Was it only on one of these systems where the conditions for origin and evolution of life was present, or do the 10 billion Earth-like exoplanets in our Galaxy all team with a diversity of life forms? We go through the evolution of life on Earth, explore the odds for life on other planets, and conclude with odds for finding intelligent life elsewhere in space. More information: see the course description in KU's course catalogue |
Complex PhysicsA graduate course on rephrasing a complex phenomenon into a mathematical equation or computer algorithm. More information: see the course description in KU's course catalogue |
Astrophysics and Cosmology (in Danish)
This is a broad bachelor course about planets, stars, and galaxies. We teach the part about the history of science, about our solar system, and about exoplanets. More information: see the course description in KU's course catalogue (in Danish) |
Basic Arctic Biology (in Danish)This is a bachelor course introducing the students to life and conditions for life in the Arctic. We teach about the conditions for microbial life in Arctic soils and about microorganisms in permafrost. More information: see the course description in KU's course catalogue (in Danish) |
Arctic BiologyThis is a master course providing the students a deep understanding of life in the Arctic and how Arctic ecosystems are structured and respond to environmental drivers. We teach on the distribution of Arctic soil microorganisms and how these organisms have adapted to life at low temperature. More information: see the course description in KU's course catalogue |
CELS Start-up meeting (27-28 September 2021)
On 27 and 28 September, the members of CELS held their Start-up meeting in Copenhagen. Here, the members of CELS presented the work and projects they will be carrying out within the center and took part in round-table discussions.
Below, you can find their PowerPoint presentations (in PDF).
Introduction to the research at CELS and the CELS Start-up days by Uffe Gråe Jørgensen
Online series on Exoplanets, Bacteria and Mars (May-July 2020)
In the spring of 2020, the members of CELS and collaborating researchers took part in an online meeting series on Exoplanets, Bacteria and Mars, where they shared their project work. More details and background information on this series can be found in the Introduction to the series (PDF)
By M.Sc. students Angeliki Christakopoulou, Cecillie P. Knudsen, Nanna Bach-Mø ller, Poul Kari Madsen
Presentation of ongoing projects on studying the growth-rate of bacteria exposed to variations in temperature, atmospheric composition, and level of UV radiation. Simulation of martian guilles and their relation to liquid water on Mars. Computation of non-equilibrium atmospheres exposed to biological activity.
Supervisors: Professors Morten Bo Madsen, Uff e Grae Jø rgensen, Niels Bohr Institute and professor Anders Prieme, Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen.
- Nanna Bach-Møller: 'Disequilibrium model for atmosphere simulations'
- Poul Kari Madsen: 'Exposing Microbes to the Martian Environment'
- Angeliki Christiakopoulou: 'Mars and Exoplanetary bacteria'
- Cecillie Patricia Knudsen: 'The Mars silumation chamber'
by M.Sc., PhD and Postdocs Emil Vogt, Kristian H. Mø ller, Pablo B. Valls
Computation and measurements of the chemical composition and reactionrates in Earth's and Venus'
atmospheres. Development of the instruments. Organic and non-organic molecules in exoplanet atmospheres.
Supervisor: Professor Henrik Grum Kjrgaard, Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen
- Emil Vogt: 'Vibrational Transitions of Isolated Alcohol'
- Kristian Holten Møller: 'Reaction Rate Coefficients of Atmospheric Reactions'
- Pablo Betran: 'Vibrational transitions: Experimental section'
By Professor Kai Finster, Institute for Bioscience, Aarhus University
Kai's research has span questions from freezing-point lowering proteins in bacteria, over habitability conditions of Mars, to the search for biotechnology signs on exoplanets. With start in 2020, Kai has received a grant from the Novo Nordisk synergy program 2019 to set up an experiment to study how microbiology influences the cloud formation, and hence drastically can modify the exoplanetary (and Earth's) energy balance. He will indtroduce this project, which he calls DRAMA, in the presentation, and discuss the role of microbial aerosols on cloud formation and how it can be experimentally simulated.
View the presentation: 'DRAMA: Deciphering the Role of Atmospheric Microbial Aerosols'
By Assoc. prof. Johan Andersen-Ranberg, Department for plants & environment, University of Copenhagen
Together with colleague Sillas Busck Mellor, Johan presents how algae might utilize perchlorate to form oxygen, and hereby potentially clean the martian soil for perchlorate. Mars has a relatively high abundance of reactive perchlorate (it is a salt, ClO4) in the surface soil, which may be a challenge for the fi rst steps of the coming colonization of Mars. It is today believed that the high reactivity of ClO4 was the reason behind the reactions in the Viking experiment that initially looked like a signature of life.
By PhD students and Postdocs Bettina Meyer, Gorm Gruner Jensen and Sillas Boye Nissen
The "Atmospheric complexity" group is part of the section for biocomplexity at the Niels Bohr Institute. Here the group present an overview of their work on convection modeling and cloud formation in Earth's atmosphere. Clouds may form high or low in the atmosphere, and they a ect the energy balance radically di erent dependent on where they form, and chaotic processes may lead to sudden and violent rain fall. Exoplanets will widely expand the parameter space and types of convection, cloud, and energy budget we will be able to study.
Supervisor: Assoc. prof. Jan Härter, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
- Silas Boye Nissen: 'Self-aggregation conceptualized by cold pool organization'
- Bettina Meyer: 'Modeling of coulds in the Earth Atmosphere: Turbulence, Convection & Cold Pools'
By PhD students Oliver Herbort, Dominic Samara, Patrick Barth
This session contains five presentations by Christiane Helling and Peter Woitke's group in St Andrews, which include the subjects of cloud formation, mantel compositions and biosignatures. Christiane is PI of our ITN double PhD degree network CHAMELEON. She will introduce us into the ideas of the network. Peter is likewise one of the central initiative takers of the CHAMELEON project, and he will talk about the protoplanetary disk part of the network. The three students will talk about water and cloudformation on exoplanets, as well as abot how lightning and high energetic radiation can tricker formation of pre-biologic molecules in exoplanet atmospheres as well as in the protoplanetary disks where planets are formed.
Supervisors: Ass. profs. Christiane Helling and Peter Woitke, University of St Andrews.
- Peter Woitke: 'CHAMELEON: Virtual Laboratories for Exoplanents and Planet-forming Discs'
- Patrick Barth: 'Quantifying lightning as source of prebiotic molecules'
- Dominic Samra: 'Mineral Snowflakes: Cloud formation on Exoplants and Brown Dwarfs'
- Oliver Herbort: 'Atmospheres of Rocky Exoplants: stability of liquid water and cloud predictions'
By Assoc. prof. Morten Bo Madsen, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
Morten's group has been involved in instruments for the bulk of all NASA's Mars landings, including studies of the magnitic properties of martian dust, camera calibrations, Moesbauer spectroscopy, and site selections. It is also one of Morten's former students that build the rst version of the Mars simulation chamber which we are now expanding to be able to manipulate bacteria that may one day help us living on Mars and which may reveal the presence of life on remote exoplanets. Here he tells the story of how the Mars chamber came about and what to expect from the ongoing Mars 2020 probe Perseverance.
By Assoc. prof. Martin Engho , DTU Space, the Technical University of Denmark.
Together with his colleague Henrik Svensmark, Martin will tell about how cloud formation is a ected by high-energetic radiation and how this radiation might trigger the formation of pre-biologic molecules. In collaboration with the CHAMELEON project, experiments will be set up to measure how lightning, which might be identi ed observationally in brown dwarfs and protoplanetary disks, facilitates the dust condensation and growth, and potentially can contribute to the rst pre-biological molecule formation.
During recent years, we have participated in various talks, panel discussions, online lectures and radio broadcasts over the past years. A selection of our activities is listed here:
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Secretary
Zofia Merie Kohring
E-mail: kohring@nbi.ku.dk
Phone: (+45) 35 32 52 10
Niels Bohr Institute (Head of CELS)
Uffe Gråe Jørgensen, Professor
Email: uffegj@nbi.dk
Phone: (+45) 61 30 66 40
Department of Microbiology
Anders Priemé, Professor
Email: aprieme@bio.ku.dk
Phone: +45 51 82 70 33
Department of Chemistry
Henrik Grum Kjærgaard, Professor
Email: hgk@chem.ku.dk
Phone: +45 35 32 03 34
Niels Bohr Institute
Jan Olaf Mirko Härter, Associate Professor
Email: haerter@nbi.ku.dk
Telefon: 45 93 56 57 36
Uffe Gråe Jørgensen, Associate professor
Email: uffegj@nbi.dk
Phone: (+45) 61 30 66 40
