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PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 24: Life: Are We Alone?
PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 24: Life: Are We Alone?
Next Lecture: UFOs and Pseudoscience
School: Michigan Technological University
Professor: Robert Nemiroff
Online Course WebCT pages:
http://courses.mtu.edu/
This class can be taken online ONLY, class
attendance is not required!
You are responsible for…
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Lecture material
Listed wikipedia entries
 But not higher math
APODs posted during the semester
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APOD review every week during lecture
Completing the Quizzes
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Homework quizzes 1 - 11.
HW 12 due later today (Mon) by 5 pm
Final Exam released Wed at 4 pm, due next
Wed at 5 pm.
Wikipedia entries:
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Drake equation
SETI
Fermi paradox
Extrasolar planet
4
The Drake Equation:
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N = R* x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L
N is the number of civilizations in our Galaxies
that are contactable
R* is the rate of star formation
fp is the fraction of stars that have planets
ne is the number of habitable planets per above
star
fl is the fraction of above planets that develop life
fi is the fraction of above life planets that develop
intelligent life
fc is the fraction of intelligent life planets that are
contactable
L is the expected lifespan of such a intelligent life
civilization
The Drake Equation
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Possible plausible values:
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R*=10 stars/year; fp=0.5; ne=2
fl=1; fi=0.01; fc=0.01;
L=10,000 years
Then N~10
Where are they: Fermi Paradox
Life in Our Solar System
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Mars
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Jupiter’s Moon Europa
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Hydrocarbon seas, rain
Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
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Underground seas
Frozen fish in orbit?
Saturn’s Moon Titan
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Ancient or modern
Underground seas
Anywhere else?
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Cloudtops of Jupiter?
Water Ice in a Martian Crater
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA;
Image created for and Copyright: Nature
APOD: 2005 July 20
Unusual Plates on Mars
Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA
APOD: 2005 February 28
enix and the Snow Queen
dit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo,
enix Mission, NASA, JPL, UA, Max Planck
, Aviation Week and Space Technology
OD: 2008 June 12
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Radar Indicates Buried Glaciers on Mars
Data Reconstruction Credit : NASA/JPLCaltech/UTA/UA/MSSS/ESA/DLR/JPL Solar
System Visualization Project
APOD: 2008 November 24
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Light Deposits Indicate Water Flowing on Mars
Credit: Mars Global Surveyor
APOD: 2006 December 12
Pictured: An Ancient Martian?
Credit: D. McKay (NASA /JSC), et al., NASA
APOD: 1997 August 16
Early Microscopic Life on Mars?
Credit: courtesy NASA
APOD: 1996 August 7
Tantalizing Titan
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2004 October 28
Methane Rain Possible on Titan
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Mark Garlick (Space-art.co.uk)
APOD: 2006 August 2
Liquid Lakes on Saturn's Titan
Credit: Cassini Radar Mapper, JPL, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2007 February 7
Enceladus and the Search for Water
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2006 March 10
Cassini Passes Through Ice Plumes of
Enceladus Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI,
JPL, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2008 October 13
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Fountains Discovered on Saturn's Enceladus
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2005 December 5
Enceladus Ice Volcanos
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Michael Carroll
APOD: 2006 June 8
The Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes
Credit: Dave Finley, AUI, NRAO, NSF
APOD: 2006 May 14
A Big Dish at the VLA Radio Observatory
Credit & Copyright: Victor Bobbett
APOD: 2006 November 29
Arecibo: The Largest Telescope
Credit: NAIC, Cornell U., NSF
APOD: 1998 November 29
Radio, The Big Ear, And The Wow! Signal
Credit and Copyright: Rick Scott
APOD: 1998 September 17
How to Search for Aliens
Credit: SETI@home, UC Berkeley SETI Team
APOD: 1999 May 17
An Anomalous SETI Signal
Credit & Copyright: SETI League
2004 March 7
The Voyagers' Message in a Bottle
Credit: Voyager Project, JPL, NASA
APOD: 2002 August 31
A Message From Earth
Credit: Frank Drake (UCSC) et al., Arecibo Observatory (Cornell, NAIC)
2005 March 13
A Cosmic Call to Nearby Stars
Credit & Copyright: Yuvan Dutil & Stephane Dumas
2006 April 2
M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
Credit & Copyright: Eddie Guscott
APOD: 2004 May 11
The Lost World of Lake Vida
Credit & Copyright: Thomas Nylen et al., NASA, NSF
APOD: 2004 April 4
D. rad Bacteria: Candidate Astronauts
Credit: Michael Daly (USUHS), DOE
APOD: 2006 January 22
Searching for Meteorites in Antarctica
Credit & Copyright: Ralph P. Harvey (CWRU),
Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program, NASA, NSF
APOD: 2002 December 26
A Meteorite From Mars
Credit: JSC, NASA
APOD: 1996 August 17
55 Cancri: Familiar Planet Discovered
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Lynette Cook
APOD: 2002 June 14
A Dangerous Sunrise on Gliese 876d
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Inga Nielsen
(Hamburg Obs., Gate to Nowhere)
APOD: 2008 May 21
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HR 8799: Discovery of a Multi-planet Star System
Credit: C. Marois et al., NRC Canada
APOD: 2008 November 17
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Water Claimed in Evaporating Planet HD 209458b
Illustration Credit: ESA, A. Vidal-Madjar (IAP, CNRS), NASA
APOD: 2007 April 17
Pictured: An Ancient Martian?
Credit: D. McKay (NASA /JSC), et al., NASA
APOD: 1997 August 16