Life on Other Planets Isn't Always Green

Humans have come to associate the color green as the color of life and growth on Earth. We find green in our landscaping through trees, plants, bushes, through life. But NASA has found that the grass isn't always greener on distant planets.

NASA has stated that organisms on other planets could photosynthesize differently from Earth. Other planets' life could have color signatures such as red, orange, yellow, or black. The process of photosynthesis by plants here on Earth detail the use of the sun's light energy to sustain themselves and grow. So what makes it possible for Earth's plants to look different from that of other living organisms on other planets? Earth's plants absorb sunlight through a plant pigment called chlorophyll which absorbs the most abundant and highest-energy colors that reach the planet. Plants absorb red and blue energy colors while reflecting the color green, which in turn reflects back to our eyes and give the vegetation its noted green color.

There is the possibility that the distribution of colors to other planets orbiting other suns could be different. With a different availability of color energy to draw from on other planets, pigments must be able to adapt to the spectrum of available light.

Thus, photosynthesis on other planets would be different colors when surrounded by a diverse number of star types. Stars hotter than our sun give off more blue light, which would mean on nearby planets, plants could possibly reflect of colors such as red, orange, yellow, and green. Cooler and more common stars like red dwarfs give off less visible light, which in turn might foresee all the plants on those planets to be black. Because there isn't much visible light being given off by the red dwarfs, organisms on those planets would absorb all colors in an attempt to absorb as much energy as they can, hence the color black, which absorbs all colors on the spectrum.

The least likely color to be reflected off by organisms is the color blue. If plants were blue, then that would mean passing up the high-energy blue light. Though it is quite unlikely that this would happen, it's certainly possible as the universe is full of variables and possibilities.

Life is unique, as we really need to appreciate how life miraculously adapted to our planet and our sun. The likelihood of life existing on other planets is low, but as compared to the size of the universe, there is a good chance that it may be possible. The color green that we take for granted, may not hold true to other planets, so we need to take the opportunity to cherish the planet that we have.