NEW YORK, April 12 (UPI) -- NASA scientists have created a method to predict the color of plants on planets in other solar systems -- and the plants might not be green.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers studied light absorbed and reflected by organisms on Earth, and determined astronomers looking at the light reflected by planets circling distant stars might be able to predict some planets have mostly non-green plants.
"We can identify the strongest candidate wavelengths of light for the dominant color of photosynthesis on another planet," said biometeorologist Nancy Kiang at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
Kiang and colleagues calculated what the stellar light would look like at the surface of Earth-like planets whose atmospheric chemistry is consistent with the types of stars they orbit. By looking at the changes in that light through different atmospheres, researchers identified the colors most favorable for photosynthesis on other planets.
The scientists said each planet would have different dominant colors for photosynthesis, based on its atmosphere where the most light reaches the planet's surface. The dominant photosynthesis might even be in the infrared.
The study appeared in the March issue of the journal, Astrobiology.
