OREANDA-NEWS   Russian astronomers, together with the Association of Arab Universities, will create a space observatory that will study exoplanets and search for traces of extraterrestrial life. The agreement on the formation of the Russian-Arab Association was signed on the eve of the first Russian-Arab summit. This is reported by Russia Today (RT).

According to Alexander Belinsky, deputy director of the P. K. Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University, the new telescope will observe planets outside the Solar System simultaneously in four spectral ranges, which will allow searching with high accuracy for signs of atmospheres — the most important conditions for the existence of life. The device will be placed in geostationary orbit, 90 times further than the International Space Station, to minimize the effects of the Earth's atmosphere and solar interference.