Month: September 2015

Planets to See: September 2015

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Lovely Earth is not entirely lonely.  We have five planets that have been observed since the dawn of civilization.  The five are visible with the naked eye in the sky at different times of year, and were given the name planets as a derivation of the Greek ‘planetes,’ meaning ‘wanderers.’  They do wander, or at least they appear to move against the background of the stars, since they are much closer to the Earth as it orbits the Sun. So what planets are visible this month? For September 2015 and back to school, you had better be willing to get...

The Seeding of Life on Distant Worlds

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The concept of Panspermia is a description of all life in the Galaxy having been seeded by other life, all originating at one point.  This life can hitch a ride from star to star on comets, meteorites, and rogue planets.  It’s true we have never found evidence for life outside of our own home planet, but if panspermia is a viable theory, it could mean that life is everywhere, just waiting for us to find it. In a new study from astronomers as the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, panspermia creates ‘oases’ where pockets of life form.  As life is able...