One of the most provocative mysteries of the Universe is whether or not we're alone. Our galaxy alone contains potentially hundreds of billions of planets. Let alone the other billions of galaxies in the observable Universe (Kerr, "Alone in the Universe"). Considering those numbers, it is very likely that we are not alone. You could even say it's arrogant to believe we are the only planet able to inhabit thriving life forms.
Despite that you may not be able to see anything in the sky at this moment, there is an endless amount of stars with the likelihood of being orbited by additional planets. As specified by NASA, there are "1000 billion billion" stars in the observable Universe (Moebius, “Stars in the Universe”). We are but a speck
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Surely, that is not a troublesome task considering how abundant stars tend to be. Lisa Kaltenegger, an Associate Professor of Technology explains how "we don't find the planets, the star gives away that the planet exists” (00:07:25-00:07:33). It's similar to an owner with an over-eager dog. If you see someone attempting to withstand the pull of a dog, you don't need to see the dog to comprehend that it is pulling a person. Thus, the further the person leans back, the larger the dog. "In a way, it's the same for stars," Kaltenegger states, "when a planet pulls, the star 'leans' back." In other words, when the planet goes one direction, the star will go the other direction, revealing the "wobble" of the star. When the star wobbles, it indicates that something is tugging on it. Moreover, as the planet arrives at the front of the sun from our point of view, the blazing stellar surface that makes the sun bright will darken. Consequently, the star will appear to be slightly duller than it used to be. This assures us something (a planet) is blocking the star. Meanwhile, NASA's Kepler telescope has discovered 95 new planets outside of our Solar System, exoplanets (Exoplanets 101). Keep in mind that that number adds on to the other thousands of planets the Kepler Telescope has discovered. Ranging from the size of "fluffy mini-Neptunes to Jupiter like …show more content…
In the hottest places, driest places, coldest places, and in the deepest places there is life so long there is liquid water in that environment. Take Water Bears for example (also known as tardigrades). These micro animals are reasonably the most tolerant organisms. Being able to withstand radiation, the bitter cold of absolute zero and the wrath of temperatures surpassing 300 degrees Fahrenheit (Parjan, "The Tardigrade"). This beast is capable of undergoing the same conditions that would utterly demolish a human. If these types of organisms can prosper on our Earth, why can't it on other planets? You can find extreme forms of life here on our planet living in the most intense types of environments. Life can adapt to harsher environments and eventually grow to become used to it. Microorganisms have the power to evolve. Although it takes a considerably long time, it does not indicate that evolution will not occur. Think of it this way. If a snail feels lonely in Central Park because he cannot come into contact with or see any snails, it does not mean it is alone. It just means there is a great deal of distance separating this snail and the other snails. In a way, it's the same for planets and stars. Just because we cannot find other life in the Universe or even in our Solar System does not mean it is not there. The only complication is that we have not sent a telescope that
Fermi’s paradox supports this claim because theoretically there should be species capable of interstellar travel due to the age of the universe. Although we haven’t encountered any life forms from other galaxies it doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Ted Chiang uses an endangered parrot to show that a possible reason for our great silence is due to or erratic and dangerous nature as humans. However, there are still some instances where humans have connected with other species and created special bonds in the
Finding life in our solar system could potentially answer the questions humanity has been asking for thousands of years. Sarah Seager, a professor at MIT, mentioned some of these thought provoking questions, “why are we here? Why does our universe exist? How did Earth form and evolve? How and why did life originate and populate our planet?” Answers to these questions could give humanity a deeper understanding of who we are and what our place in the universe is. Steven Dick believes that humanity has “… deep psychological yearnings for companionship, superior wisdom, or ‘an ineradicable desire to see the skies filled with life’.” Those opposed may argue that a biological universe will have little effect on humanity’s understanding of our place in the universe because a biological universe simply does not exist. One may argue that life is exceedingly complex and the odds of conditions being just right for the production and the sustainment of life are slim. Our civilization may have managed to beat the odds, but many its unlikely to for this to occur elsewhere in our solar system. The proof to back this argument is the N =1 equation. The only solid evidence we have proves that only one planet has beaten these insurmountable odds and produced life. While this argument makes logical sense, relying solely on evidence we have at the moment, takes our focus away from the
There is a cultural assumption that there are many alien civilizations in the universe. However, what do we really know about extraterrestrial life? With recent findings of water on Mars and the discovery of Trappist-1, there could be hope for extraterrestrial life out in the universe. Even though the water on Mars is frozen under the polar ice caps and Trappist-1 could be far from finding any alien life, there are still many articles supporting the research and looking forward to finding additional news. In the article “Could the TRAPPSIT-1 worlds harbor alien life?’ written by Liz Fuller-Wright, she reports the announcement of astronomers that they found a miniature solar system of seven Earth-sized planets. Furthermore, the argument is effective towards bright individuals because it makes one think about what it will be if there was actually life outside of Earth.
To better understand the planets, we need to first have a basic understanding of our
Every day we look into the night sky, wondering and dreaming what lies beyond our galaxy. Within our galaxy alone, there are millions upon millions of stars. This may be why it interests us to learn about all that we cannot see. Humans have known the existence of stars since they have had eyes, and see them as white glowing specks in the sky. The mystery lies beyond the white glowing specks we see but, in the things we cannot see in the night sky such as black holes.
Since the beginning of human fascination with outer space, the question “Is there life on other planets?” has existed and has waited to be answered. Early astronomers looking to find life on other planets were brutally punished by the Catholic Church. For years, people saw these astronomers as heretics for going against the church and undesirable, but today there might be evidence that supports these astronomers. Today, we find that people are still split between believing in alien life or not. People devoted to a religion tend to disagree with the possibility of life anywhere but Earth as it goes against their beliefs. However, with the increase of realistic movies about aliens and very convincing theories, many young people are beginning to believe that life on other planets does not seem so radical after all. Each day, scientists find more and more predictive evidence that leads most of them to believe that there is life on other planets.
As technology advances on Earth, increased standards of living and life expectancy have taken a toll on Earth’s fleeting, finite resources. Kepler potentially provides scientists with information regarding planets that can serve as a future home when resources have diminished and information that can foreshadow inevitabilities about Earth through older, Earth-like planets. Kepler’s primary mission is to discover extrasolar planets within a habitable zone that have sizes relatively similar to that of Earth’s. Previous planetary research detected giant planets that were much more massive than Earth. In addition to detection, Kepler is designed to examine the planets and stars that reside in the Earth-like planet’s system.
The existence of life – Aliens, beyond our planet has been a controversial topic for several centuries, and is a debatable issue even today in the 21st century. What is our topic you may ask? Aliens, Do, Exist. According to theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere other than Earth. This is a bold claim, but there is evidence to support this statement. The evidence we seek is in the many Alien occurrences we have experienced throughout human history.
It is without a doubt that the most fascinating thing about space is the possibility of life elsewhere beside Earth. It is estimated that the Milky Way Galaxy itself contains about 300 billion stars. Each star contains planets and some planets might even have moons. With these findings, the question is no longer whether life exists elsewhere. The probability that Earth is the only place where life exists in the universe is far too slim. NASA has identified many planets that have similar conditions to Earth but most of these planets are hundreds of light years away so traveling there to find out if there’s any living organism is not easy. Luckily, scientific evidences have pointed out that one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa, could be one of the places where life can exist. If the theories proposed by astronomers about Europa are true, life on Europa might not even be entirely different than life near the bottom of Earth’s oceans.
Human fascination with the stars is as ancient as Babylonians and has been suggested to be older than Stonehenge. From “be fruitful and multiply” to “live long and prosper,” the instinct to protect and propagate the species has manifested in religion, art, and the imaginations of countless individuals. As human understanding of space treks out of the fantastical and into the scientific, the realities of traveling through and living in space are becoming clearer. Exploring, investigating, and living in space pose an expansive series of problems. However, the solutions to the problems faced by mankind's desire to reach beyond the horizon, through the night sky, and into the stars are solutions that will help in all areas of life on Earth.
A galaxy, also called a nebula, consists of billions of stars, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter which are all bound to form a massive cloud in which we live in. Although it cannot be very well explained, dark matter makes up at least 90% of a galaxy’s mass. Galaxies also contain billions upon billions of stars and their diameter can range from 1,500 to 300,000 light years. That’s huge! The Milky Way, the galaxy in which we live in, is one of about 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Our Sun is one of the billions of stars in our galaxy, and our eight planets revolve around this star in only a tiny part of our galaxy. “The Earth’s solar system is believed to exist very close to the Galaxy’s galactic plane, due to the fact that the Milky Way essentially divides the night sky into two virtually equal hemispheres” ("All About the Milky"). It definitely makes people second guess the fact of there being life on other planets.
Different types of bacteria have different range of temperature they are able to survive. They are generally divided into three types: psychrophiles, mesophiles and thermophiles. Psychrophilic bacteria are able to survive in low temperatures ranging from about -10 to 20°C while thermophilic bacteria are able to thrive in high temperatures ranging from 40 to 75°C. These two types of bacteria are also known as extremophiles due to their ability to survive in extreme conditions. Mesophilic bacteria are bacteria that thrive in temperatures ranging from 10 to 45°C and usually have an optimum growth temperature of about 37°C (M. Furlong, n.d.).
If aliens are in 65 years of the galaxy look at the sun they are looking. Now I’m going to talk about stars… Stars have at least been around this earth/ planet for three billion years. Stars/the moon/sun. Those are the only things that go around the whole entire
Even though we know a great amount more than the astronomers in the past, there is still an even larger amount we do not know about the universe to this day. Even our own solar system contains many questions yet to be answered. Some of these include the possibility of a planet beyond Pluto (Planet X), the means by which the system was created, and even the possibility of a sister star to the Sun named Nemesis. Another astronomical mystery is the creation of the universe. In time, many questions will be answered but some will always remain. Astronomy is something that will never be completely understood.
One of the most common unanswered questions scientists find themselves asking is "Is there life on other planets?" Since the first famously documented UFO sighting in 1947, the idea of extra-terrestrial life has been debated almost non-stop. The subject has inspired many TV programs, such as The X-Files, and films (Mars Attacks, Independence Day, and the Men in Black films to name but a few). Scientists have come up with many new ideas and ways of trying to either prove or disprove the existence of life elsewhere.