Download Are We Alone? - Space Foundation

Laura Cipiti
Fall 2010
Cosmology CURR
“The surest sign that
intelligent life
exists elsewhere in
the universe is that
it has never tried to
contact us.”
Bill Watterson - creator of
Calvin and Hobbes
The ancient Greeks were the first Western
thinkers to consider formally the
possibility of life in the universe
outside of earth.
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In the 16th century,
the Copernican model
(earth was not the center
of creation) opened the
door to all sorts of
extraterrestrial
thoughts.
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1930 discovery of Pluto and further attention
of the possibility that life is on Mars.
1959 Two young phycists at Cornell University
authored a 2-page article entitled “Searching
for Interstellar Communications”. The modern
search then began.
1960 Scientists began a search to hear
signals from intelligent life.
1975 Viking mission to look for life on Mars.
1985 SETI was founded.
1995 Astronomers have discovered the first
exo-planet outside of our solar system.
2002 Scientists find that Europa may have an
icy surface
2010 Scientists confirmed ice on Mars
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Violent events with very short timescales, supernova explosions to bring
chemical elements to life from stars,
collisions between little planets
crashing together to make bigger
planets, and a quiet period to slowly
evolve life.
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Our moon stabilizes the earth’s axis and helps
control our climate.
The location of earth in our solar system
prevents over exposure from our sun (Habitable
zone).
Most stars in the universe are smaller than
our sun, which would require planets to orbit
closer to their sun to obtain necessary heat.
Jupiter protects us from being hit by many
things such as comets and asteroids.
Having one sun provides a stable orbit.
Our distance from the sun gives us an
atmosphere and liquid water, which can be
maintained.
Liquid water seems to be an essential
requirement for life.
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Scientists can’t seem to agree
Extremophiles- It has been proven
that life does NOT need water to
exist
Benton Clark (astrobiologist with
University of Colorado) says, “Our
criteria for life may be too
specific.” We may only know what
it is when we see it.
Life Beyond Earth video (10 mins)
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Europa (Jupiter)
Titian(Saturn)
Ganymede (Jupiter)
Enceladus (Saturn)
Exo-solar planets
Mars
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NASA (2 mins.)
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SETI
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Frank Drake (3 mins.)
French CoRoT mission and Gaia
Canadian Space Agency
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(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
European Space Agency
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Hubble, Kepler, multiple telescopes,
plus future missions
MOST mission
Other
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NASA has created an
Planetary Protection
branch.
Their mission is to
prevent biological
cross-contamination
that could result from
NASA’s solar system
exploration missions.
So we won’t “discover”
life we brought with
us.
Recent News
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October 5 - At Keck Observatory in
Hawaii they discovered a new planet
circling Gliese 581 star. It is
within the habitable zone. This star
has now 6 planets circling around it.
This is the first discovery of a
potential Earthlike world.
October 28 - NASA study suggests 1
out of every 4 stars may host Earth
size planets.
Nov. 11 James Webb Space Telescope
will be delayed at least another
year.
Nov. 13 Chemists uncover a new
chemical reaction that could allow
scientists to gain information from
ancient rocks to find out what the
atmosphere of Mars was like hundreds
of millions years ago.
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Alien Earths
Seti at home
Nasa’s Planet Quest
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Hamilton, C. (2001, November). Life beyond our solar system. Retrieved from
http://sci2.esa.int/specialevents/lifeinuniverse/life.html
Finnes, E. (2008, August). Extremophiles [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://ourundiscovereduniverse.com/blog/?p=88
Woodmansee, Laura. (2001). If life exists on mars, our robotic probe may have
brought it there. Space Daily, Retrieved from
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zg1.html
Mullen, L. (2002). Defining life. Astrobiology Magazine, Retrieved from
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1944.htm
Balthaser, D. (2000, July). Pros and cons of life existing elsewhere.
Extraterrestrial contact, 1472, Retrieved from
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1472.htm
Globalimmersion, C. (Producer). (2009). Are we alone. [Web]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSFPi75Ps_U
Freethinker, F. (Producer). (2009). Life beyond earth. [Web]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ivTdcHYvI&feature=related
Zimmer, H. (Producer). (2009). Alien life on titan or europa. [Web]. Retrieved
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI_TbLAyGfs&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Ransford, M. (2008, June). The search for extraterrestrial life: a brief
history. Popular Science, Retrieved from http://www.popsci.com/militaryaviation-space/article/2008-06/et-phone-earth
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Little, D. (1999, January). The search for life in the universe. Retrieved from
http://www.setileague.org/articles/little.htm
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Degrasse, N. (2002, June). The search for life in the universe. Retrieved from
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_retrospection&task=detail&id=166
Sources continued…
Little, D. (1999, January). The search for life in the universe.
Retrieved from http://www.setileague.org/articles/little.htm
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Degrasse, N. (2002, June). The search for life in the universe.
Retrieved from
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_retrospection&task=detail&id=
166
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Lawler, A. (2009). Is jupiter's bizarre moon our best hope of finding
extraterrestrial life?. Discover Magazine, Retrieved from
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/sep/28-is-this-bizarre-moon-ourbestextraterrestriallife/article_view?searchterm=europa%20%20%20life&b_start:int=1
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Honig, M. (2010, February). The oceans of enceladus. Retrieved from
http://www.tgdaily.com/space-features/48430-the-oceans-of-enceladus=17
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Woollacott, E. (2010, February). Ingredients for life present on saturn's moon.
Retrieved from http://www.tgdaily.com/ocean/48349-ingredients-for-life-present-onsaturns-moon=18902
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