100,000 Galaxies. Each one contains Billions upon Billions of stars. Each star could have planets, leading to countless possibilities of variation and the potential for life. But would we see the signs of civilization from Earth? Could a highly advanced civilization control the entire population of stars in their galaxy and harness that energy for their industry? Would they alter their stellar environment enough that we could see them? This is exactly the line of questioning that led astronomers to look at over 100,000 different nearby galaxies in mid-infrared emission to see some potential signs of Alien life. In these...
Since the Huygens probe dropped down to the surface of Saturn’s largest moon Titan, astronomers have pondered the idea of life on the distant world. With a liquid cycle not unlike Earth’s water cycle in form, but consisting of frigid liquid hydrocarbons, could a new variation of life exist, not as we know it? Jonathan Lunine, director for Cornell’s Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, is an expert on Saturn’s Moons and is a scientist on the Cassini-Huygens mission, which originally discovered the Methane-Ethane lakes on Titan a decade ago. Given a grant to study non-aqueous life, he needed help....
As the Kepler Space Telescope continues work on its second mission, the slow trickle of new exoplanet discoveries has begun. In the past few weeks scientists working with Kepler data have been able to identify new planets, and of course the variation continues to surprise us all. Most Recently, Kepler discovered a system of three planets orbiting the nearby red dwarf star EPIC 201367065, which is about half the size and mass of the Sun. The planets are all super-Earths, being only 2.1, 1.7, and 1.5 times the size of Earth and receiving 10.5, 3.2 and 1.4 times the light intensity of Earth...
Fitting it should fall on a Monday – so we should call this a motivation Monday post. This won’t be about me per se. I’m not going to spend two hours writing about my life, expecting you to read every minute detail and be captivated. The truth is, even though its been interesting and even hilarious at times, I haven’t really lived a life that’s any more captivating than anyone else’s. I’ve had fun, and I’ve taken risks, and I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve loved and lost time and time again. Even though every single person can say the same,...
It’s been an amazing week for detection and study of water in our Solar system. Just last week we received the first results of the Rosetta mission’s analysis of water from comet 67P. Now we’ve received the latest breakthrough from the Curiosity Rover on Mars, results on Water, Methane, and even Organic material! The Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) took measurements of the Martian atmosphere over a period of 20 months, and for two of these months in late 2013 and early 2014, the Methane levels were 10 times as high as measurements before and after the spike. “This temporary...
You have to see this incredible feature on Mars, showing some of the best High-Res photos and milestones from the mission. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/science/space/curiosity-rover-28-months-on-mars.html As you look through the images, remember that you are looking at another world. It feels foreign, yet oddly familiar. You almost want to reach out and just grab a handful of sand. It makes you realize that we are not the center of the Universe. There are likely Billions of worlds similar to Mars, with Dunes and Soil and Skies and Mountains, except those world may not be so barren. They may be lush and alive, dominated...
One of the most important science goals of the Rosetta mission is to determine the conditions in the early solar system, as well as the element abundance and climate that led to the development of life on Earth. By studying a comet that has been isolated in Space for 4.5 Billion years, we can learn about the formation of the Solar System and the origin of the raw materials for life on Earth. The Earth was thought to be so warm when it formed that any water would have evaporated away into space. If so, where did our vast oceans come...
Have you ever heard of the Van Allen belts? If not you really should learn about them. After all, without them the majority of life on Earth could not survive. So what are they and how do they keep us alive? The Van Allen Belts are a collection of charged particles, held in place by the magnetic field of Earth, that act as a barrier to prevent the most harmful radiation from the Sun from reaching the surface of the Earth. They shift according to the incoming energy of the Sun, and if there is a large enough swell of...
