🧭 Plot Summary
This is the capstone for the whole course. You'll get a dossier on one exoplanet: its star, its size and mass, where it sits relative to the habitable zone, and the gases detected in its atmosphere — each with a confidence level. Using a field guide to what each gas could mean, you'll sort the living explanations from the non-living ones, decide which combinations matter, and weigh the planet itself. Then you'll make the call — fund follow-up or not — and defend it, including exactly what would convince you. It pulls from nearly every unit: spectra, stars, transits, habitable zones, extremophiles, and missions.
Resource Map — where each piece comes from
Stuck on one piece of the case? Jump straight to the lesson that covers it.
Spectral lines as chemical fingerprints — the foundation of every atmosphere reading
Transits, planet size and density, and how starlight passes through a planet's air
Zone edges, star types, flares, and the habitability checklist
Building a case from detection data — and answering a skeptical reviewer
Life's three needs, and how life can make and use gases like methane
Viking's lesson, multiple lines of evidence, and what telescopes can measure next
The alternate capstone path — and how to define success honestly
✅ Self-Check Before You Roll On
Check off each item as you get there. These aren't grades — they're your own signal.