Scientists have proposed a new technique to help researchers identify oceans on exoplanets — a key step to finding life outside our planet.

Searching for liquid water on exoplanets is the key to finding life among the stars, and now, scientists have proposed a new strategy that might improve the chances of finding it.

In the new study, published Dec. 28 in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers hypothesized that if the atmosphere of an exoplanet has less CO2 than its neighbors, there may be vast quantities of water on its surface — or even life.