Could alien life be found in the clouds of an exoplanet?

Astronomers usually don't like clouds. After all, clouds obscure their view of the cosmos. But dense cloud coverage is now something astronomers might look for on distant exoplanets.

Researchers at Cornell University have developed the first-ever reflectance spectra — essentially a color-coded key — of the colorful microorganisms that live in Earth's clouds. Now, astronomers can potentially use this key to identify similar organisms in the clouds of exoplanets, if they exist.

"We thought clouds would hide life from us, but surprisingly, they could help us find life," Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy at Cornell and the director of the Carl Sagan Institute, said in a statement.

The idea for the work came from astrobiologist Ligia Coelho, an astronomy postdoctoral fellow at Cornell