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The closest stars that harbor potentially habitable planets are cool M-stars. Upcoming ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to search the atmosphere of such planets for a range of chemicals. To facilitate this search and to inform upcoming observations, we model the high-resolution reflection spectra of two of the closest potentially habitable exoplanets for a range of terrestrial atmospheres and surface pressures for active and inactive phases of their host stars for both oxic and anoxic conditions: Proxima b, the closest potentially habitable exoplanet, and Trappist-1e, one of 3 Earth-size planets orbiting in the Habitable Zone of Trappist-1. We find that atmospheric spectral features, including biosignatures like O2 in combination with a reduced gas like CH4 for oxic atmospheres, as well as climate indicators like CO2 and H2O for all atmospheres, show absorption features in the spectra of Proxima b and Trappist-1e models. However for some features like oxygen, high-resolution observations will be critical to identify them in a planet's reflected flux. Thus these two planets will be among the best targets for upcoming observations of potential Earth-like planets in reflected light with planned Extremely Large Telescopes.

ThinkerX wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 2:50 am save for the more luminous (and mature) ones, M dwarfs are not exactly prime candidates for harboring planets with life anything close to that of earth.

AntennaGuy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 5:10 am "About 4 light-years from Earth, Proxima b can be resolved by new ground-based telescopes, giving astronomers an edge in observing this close-by world."
Q: Did you lose your keys somewhere around here?
A: Well, I think I most likely lost them on the other side of the street.
Q: Then why are you looking over here?
A: The light is much better here!
Astronomic moral: Sometimes you actually have to settle for looking in low-probability places, if you just can't see well enough anywhere else.