Monthly Archives: May 2021

Gotta be Life out there

Posted on May 2, 2021 by dayanel123

Today we will be talking about extremophiles. After learning about all of the potential life that can survive in the harshest of environments, it made me think that there must be life out there. What may seem like a super hot, extremely pressurized environment to us on Venus, may seem like the ideal conditions forContinue reading “Gotta be Life out there” Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Gotta be Life out there

Hey, Where is Everybody?

Posted on May 2, 2021 by alliefrymire

When we studied the Drake Equation in class, it was interesting to note that using the maximum possible values for each variable in the equation, there could be as many as 21,000,000 detectable civilizations out there right now waiting to be discovered? If there are so, so many civilizations out there sending communication into space … Continue reading Hey, Where is Everybody? → Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hey, Where is Everybody?

Life In The Extremes

Posted on May 2, 2021 by alliefrymire

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my studies of biology over my education, it’s that life is precarious, delicate, and precious. However, now that I’ve learned more about astrobiology through this course, I’ve also come to know that life is hardy and determined. As Ian Malcom so astutely notes in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a … Continue reading Life In The Extremes → Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Life In The Extremes

Keeping Up With The Kardashev Scale

Posted on May 2, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Feel free to take a few seconds out of your day to fully appreciate the genius title I came up with for this post. I’ll even give you some scrolling to do while you appreciate it! The Kardashev scale was designed in 1964 by Nikolai Kardashev to measure a civilization’s level of technological capability based… Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Stars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Keeping Up With The Kardashev Scale

I Want To Believe!

Posted on May 1, 2021 by olivesobservatory

Forget Fermi’s paradox. Forget the Drake equation. Yet another hot-button topic relating to astronomy and (potential?) extraterrestrial life is- you guessed it- unidentified flying objects (UFOs for short). Do I think it’s kind of a stretch that I’m relating this to chapter 24? Absolutely! But with the (relatively) recent declassification by the Pentagon of three… Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Class, Historical, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on I Want To Believe!

The Star That Vanished

Posted on May 1, 2021 by jagobillot

From 2001-2011, astronomers studied a luminous blue variable star about 75 million light years away in the Aquarius constellation. It was a massive star, about 2.5 million times brighter than our Sun, and it was approaching the end of its life. Flash forward to 2019, and an astronomer named Andrew Allan, began a study ofContinue reading “The Star That Vanished” Continue reading →

Posted in Stars | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Star That Vanished

Reflection on Astronomy 2110

Posted on May 1, 2021 by laineroberts

The biggest thing I will take away from all that I have learned in Astronomy this year is just how small and irrelevant humans are both in comparison to the size and timeline of the universe. I had always heard that the universe was infinitely big but never thought anything of it and didn’t considerContinue reading “Reflection on Astronomy 2110” Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Reflection on Astronomy 2110

Fermi Paradox

Posted on May 1, 2021 by laineroberts

Do you believe in aliens? With over 4,000 planets outside of our solar system and likely many many more, it seems almost crazy not to. Using the Drake Equation, astronomers estimate the probability of alien life outside of our solar system. Depending on the scientist’s opinions and research, this number can vary greatly but oftenContinue reading “Fermi Paradox” Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Fermi Paradox

What Life on Titan Would Look Like

Posted on May 1, 2021 by jagobillot

Titan is a world that fits many criteria for a world that could host life. Because it has temperatures at about -290 degrees celsius on the surface, life would most likely be extremophile microbes below the methane surface. But an organism living entirely off of methane did not seem likely to me originally, until IContinue reading “What Life on Titan Would Look Like” Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens | Tagged , , | Comments Off on What Life on Titan Would Look Like

Theia

Posted on May 1, 2021 by dayanel123

For my last blog post I have decided to blog about something close to home. The Theia impact is also called the Big Splash, and is a hypothesis as to how we got our moon. The theory is that a mars-sized planetesimal impacted our proto-earth in its early life. This massive impact essentially shredded TheiaContinue reading “Theia” Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Theia