Download The Goldilocks Zone

The Goldilocks Zone
The region around a star at which the temperature is between
the range at which water can exist
The Golden Records
• Records were put onboard
both Voyager spacecraft.
• They contain sounds and
images that show life and
culture on Earth for any alien
life who may find them.
• What message would you
send if another Voyager probe
was launched today?
•
Click on the discs for an interactive flash animation
Where is Voyager now?
• Voyager was launched in 1977
• It travels at a speed of 57600km/h or
505000000 km/year
• How far has it travelled in 34 years?
17 billion km!
•And it has only just left our Solar System!
Viking I Lander
•In the 1970s, 2 Viking probes were sent to Mars.
•The Viking landers conducted experiments to determine if
there was bacteria living in soil on Mars.
•Many scientists believe that the data show that Martian
bacteria exist.
‘Face’ on Mars
1976 photo from
Viking 1
2001 photo from
Mars Global Surveyor
Voyager
Voyager 1 is an American space probe launched by NASA in
1977 to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space.
Are we alone in the universe?
Out of the 200 billion stars that
make up our galaxy, which is just
one of a 100 billion galaxies, what is
the chance that we are the only
life?
How would we know Life
• Changes to the atmosphere.
• We may receive signals from space.
• Our space probes may find life.
• ergy (sunlight)
• Oxygen
Conditions For Life
• Water
• Energy (sunlight)
• Oxygen
S.E.T.I.
The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) uses a vast array of radio-telescopes to scan
for signals from outer-space.
The Allen Telescope Array, California, USA
TED Talk from Jill Tarter – Director of SETI
• Erosion patterns left by flowing water on Mars
• It is thought that liquid water is essential for life.
• Was there life on Mars in the past?
Alien Life
There may be intelligent life out there in space. Some of the
ways we would know about it are:
We would receive signals through our radio telescopes.
Our space probes may find life.
We may see changes in other planet’s atmospheres.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) uses radio
telescopes to search for alien life. Unfortunately this has gone
on for 40 years with no success yet.
The fact is that space is really really really really BIG! This
means that any alien life would be a long way away. To find aliens
we would need really fast spacecraft.