Drake Equation

Posted on May 4, 2021 by 20harriganc

The Drake equation is an equation that helps find out the possibility of alien civilizations.

Source of image

As shown above the N represents the number of civilizations with advanced technology through out the milky way. The equation is particularly interesting because depending on the person, you can find out if the person is a pessimist or an optimist all by the numbers they choose in the equation. R is the formation rate of stars, F(p) is the amount of stars that develop planetary systems. The conditions for just the factors to happen is already in a very small range. As you go on through each component, you notice the window for things to happen gets even smaller.

For example N(e) is the number of planets with an environment suitable for life. If you take a look at out own solar system. We currently only have 1 world with the confirmed ability to sustain life. If you happen to believe Mars or Venus has life, then you would increase that number to 2 or 3. The equation is inherently subjective, but that is also why it’s interesting. When you different people use the drake equation you get a fuller grasp of the level of complexity for a civilization such as our own to compare.

Later are you see a series of components all beginning with F. F(l) shows the possibility that life actually shows up in that livable range, next is that life intelligent with F(i). This is tricky because, what do you define intelligence as, obviously I believe most people would say dolphins are intelligent, but can they act fully on their intelligence like humans can. With out fingers, they can’t build things. This is where F(c) comes in. Will they be able to communicate their existence to others in space, which is very hard to do if you don’t have fingers to build space probes or radios.

Lastly, the factor that affects the equation the most is L. This factor shows how long the civilization will last. this is important, because this number can be Really large, such as a Million years, or really small such as a 1,000 years. This number shows how much time the civilization has to find other life in space. If they don’t last long, Then even if we were looking for them they may be dead, and there could be no trace of a civilization at all.

The drake equation does a great job of giving an average person “control over the universe”, because it makes theories seem possible, or not possible at all. I think it is fun to play with because, you understand the complexity of finding aliens.

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NASA’s Picture of the Day

Posted on May 4, 2021 by mwdobson3
May 3rd, 2021 NASA Picture of the Day (via NASA)

For the class Astronomical Experiences assignment, I was going to write about NASA’s May 3rd, 2021 Astronomy Picture of the Day. As I went to search for the daily image, I also found a PBS Nova video on the Mars mission involving Perseverance and I was hooked. Now that I can blog about anything for the final blog of the semester, I looked back at the image and felt it was appropriate to write about it now!

The picture from Monday was an image taken by Michael Collins during the final stages of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. As the Lunar Module was returning back to Collins from the Moon, Collins took a picture of the module with Earth in the background. I have seen pictures of Earth from space and have always thought they were incredible, but none left me so amazed as this one. The image is frequently referred to as the only picture ever with every person in the world in it except for one. At first I did not understand what this meant, but then I realized that Collins is the only human behind the camera! The combination of the picture and this fact makes it one of my favorite images, and I became so interested in it that I wanted to find the original, unedited version shown below.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
July 19th, 2009 NASA Picture of the Day (via NASA)

This unedited version vividly shows the terrain of the Moon, along with the different spots that are brighter on the surface. Personally I prefer looking at this version so that I can see the view as Collins saw it. Taken in 1969, the image is still iconic in the eyes of many astronomers and people around the world. I feel that if I was alive when this image came out, I would have been so intrigued by the possibilities of space travel that I would have wanted to become an astronaut. Today, however, I just hope to be lucky enough to see another person walk on the Moon, and maybe even watch the rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. Maybe one day I will work on a project that contributes to another human walking on the Moon!

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Our Milky Way Galaxy

Posted on May 4, 2021 by captivatingcomet

The Milky Way is a large barred spiral galaxy with four arms: the Sagittarius arm, Perseus arm, Outer arm, and Scutum-Centaurus arm. Majority of the stars in the Milky Way are single or binary stars; however, there are three distinct types of star clusters, collections of tens to thousands of stars, within the galaxy. These star cluster types are called globular clusters, open clusters, and stellar associations. Globular clusters are large, massive, and relatively spherical in shape. They form an almost spherical halo around the Milky Way. The average luminosity of a globular cluster is 25,000 times that of the Sun. Globular clusters are usually a few thousand to more than one million times more massive than the Sun and can be as wide as 300 light-years. They tend to be older, being between 11 billion and 13 billion years old.

Open clusters tend to be smaller, more open, and looser looking than globular clusters. They are mainly situated along the plane of the Milky Way. Open clusters are usually less luminous than globular clusters, but most open clusters still have a luminosity 500 times that of the Sun. Open clusters tend to be about 50 times more massive than the Sun and can be as wide as 20 light-years; however, most open clusters have a diameter smaller than 5 light-years. They also tend to be younger, where the majority of open clusters are less than 200 million years old.

Stellar associations are very loose collections of stars that are younger than the stars in open clusters. They can be found in the plane of the Milky Way and areas where star formation happens. Stellar associations are more luminous than globular clusters and have luminosities that are approximately 1,000,000 times that of the Sun. They are usually several hundred times as massive as the Sun and are typically 250 light-years across.

Image of the Milky Way Galaxy (taken from Britannica)

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The Fermi Paradox

Posted on May 4, 2021 by mwdobson3
Earth Bloomed Early: A Fermi Paradox Solution? | Space
Are there more Earths out there? (via Space.com)

The age-old question of whether life exists on other planets in the Solar System is one that may not be solved for centuries. Frank Drake and Sara Seager spent years developing their respective equations (shown below) that can be used to predict the probability of aliens existence, but the concept of life outside of Earth is a difficult topic to comprehend. This contradiction between a more-than-likely probability of aliens but humans not being able to find proof that they exist is something Enrico Fermi noticed. While eating lunch in a New Mexico laboratory, Fermi exclaimed “where are they?” in reference to extraterrestrial beings, and from then on the paradox was known as the Fermi paradox.

Seager equation based on detected exoplanets alternative to Drake Equation for alien life | NextBigFuture.com
Drake and Seager Equations

The paradox has two aspects: the first being the massive number of stars in our galaxy and the universe it is in, and the second that it is likely that the life that does exist is intelligent enough to search for other life as well. As for the first aspect, there are somewhere between 100 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, so even if life could exist on a mere 0.0001% of them, there would still be a minimum of 100,000 stars suitable for life. Then, if only 1% of that life developed into an intelligent life form like humans, there would be 1,000 planets out there with life that is also searching for us. Ultimately, if just one of these civilizations has the capability of interstellar travel and the incentive to take over other planets, the civilization could colonize the entire galaxy. So, do you think there are aliens out there? And if so, should we try to get to them before they come to us? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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My Perspective of the Universe

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Mykayla
Source

Throughout this astronomy class, my eyes have been opened to the vastness, complexity, order, and majesty of the universe. In learning about our solar system and the processes which formed the planets and everything about them, I have seen how many different pieces must come together in order for the Earth to spin, orbit the Sun, have an atmosphere, maintain a comfortable temperature, and ultimately, support life. I have learned about the varying ways in which astronomers have explored the heavens and the evolution of technology and math that allowed us to be where we are today. I understand how astronomers have used spectroscopy and the Doppler method and transit method to learn about the planets and star in our solar system and others. I finally get how tides work and why they are there and what the role of differentials plays on other worlds. Etc, etc, etc! I feel like I have learned so much about our solar system and the universe, but at the same time, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface and there is so much more that I can learn. This makes me really excited, because there are also so many discoveries yet to be made!

Most of all, throughout this class, I have seen the Lord in all of it. It has been an amazing experience to marvel at His design and experience gratitude that we are invited to explore it. The brains that He has gifted humanity with are simply incredible–how gracious of Him! We are not little robots that do everything He programmed us to do, but intelligent beings with interests and curiosity and free will that lead us to desire to know more about this world we live in and why we are here. In our search for truth, we find Him. I think that is what I have learned most this semester–that God places so many things in our lives and evidence throughout the universe that points to Him and His care and love for us, guiding us toward understanding Who He is and desiring a relationship with Him. For me, the only proper response is to love Him!

Thank you for coming along with me in my astroblogging journey! I hope that you have enjoyed reading my posts and maybe learned something along the way. You are awesome!

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Extremophiles

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Mykayla
Places where extremophiles can live (Source)

Extremophiles are organisms that not only can survive, but thrive in extreme environments. These are organisms that love the freezing or boiling temperatures, very acidic or very basic conditions, or super high-pressure, salty, or dry environments. There are even extremophiles that hate oxygen and thrive when there is none present. Extremophiles live in places that humans could not. They may reside at the ocean floor, inside intestinal tracts, on the surface of glaciers, within hot springs, and more extreme environments. These microorganisms’ ability to thrive in virtually every environment is what led scientists to discover that there is life all over the earth, even in the places that people don’t always think to look. Because of this, many scientists believe that there is possibility of life on other worlds in the universe. While it might not be the typical alien that we think of when we hear the word, extremophiles could reside in the extreme environments that other planets in ours and other solar systems have.

I think that it is amazing that almost every environment on Earth can support life in some form. It is incredible to me that these microorganisms have been equipped with special traits that enable them to thrive in their environments––traits that humans do not possess. It makes me wonder about the complexity and intentionality of God and His creation. He is the Author of LIFE: not just human life, but all life. When He spoke this world into existence, He was intentional about its inhabitants, fashioning them for their specific environments and arming them with the physical qualities necessary to flourish in their ecosystem. There is also intentionality regarding the function of these extremophiles and their role within their environments. His intentionality in design, purpose, and abundance of life reminds me of John 10:10, when Jesus said “I have come so that [you] may have life, and have it to the full” (emphasis added).

Were you surprised by any of the extreme environments in which these microorganisms can live? Do you think that this is good cause to believe that there may be life outside of Earth? Let me know in the comments. As always, thank you for reading!

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Blog 8—A fictional explanation to the Fermi paradox

Posted on May 4, 2021 by zvrec

As we learned from our class, there are several possible explanations to the Fermi paradox. One of them is that the aliens are hiding from us. For this blog, I would like to share a fictional theory in the novel “The Three-Body Problem.” In this book, the author expands the idea that aliens are hiding to form a dramatic explanation to the ultimate answer of the Fermi paradox.

The name of the theory is “The Dark Forest.” For human beings, the universe is vast, but quiet, without the solid evidence of life. This is not because that aliens do not exist. For all civilizations, the entire universe is similar to a dark forest. Each civilization can be seen as a hunter with a gun. They move cautiously, for that they must ensure their existences are not revealed, and they must prepare for the encounter with another hunter.

The front cover of the book

When a civilization locates life on other worlds, its only option is to aim at them, and eliminate its counterparts. There is no such thing called friendly stellar communications. Based on this thought, the behavior of human beings sending signals into the deep space is same as committing suicide.

This theory is of course unverified, and it may sound too pessimistic in the first impression of many people. Nevertheless, it is not absurd. The author indeed offers further analysis that make this theory more reasonable. The absolute hostility is determined to occur when civilizations collide with each other, for mainly two reasons.

The Dark Forest

First, it is difficult for any one of them to figure out the incentive of the other. This results in an infinite chain of suspicion. Thus, the safest way is to always be the first one to shoot the gun. Second, and most importantly, civilizations experience “technological explosions” from time to time. An example of this is the development of our modern society in then recent two centuries. After a critical stimulation, the industrial revolution, we humans made progress much greater than our former generations did in the last thousands of years. Hence, it is dangerous to ignore a civilization which seems harmless in the first place, as it is unpredictable whether the harmless worm will experience a technological explosion to suddenly become a beast with fangs.

After reading those two reasons, how do you feel about the thought of “The Dark Forest”? At least for me personally, I do not consider it as nonsensical. Probably in the close future, the new discoveries about the signals of life may overthrow this theory completely, or they may increase the possibility for the theory to be close to the truth.

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Blog 7—The Greenland Shark

Posted on May 4, 2021 by zvrec

In this blog post, I would like to introduce one of the species on Earth with some extreme characteristics. I think its existence is an extension to the concept of life in our common sense.


Greenland Shark

Somniosus microcephalus, also called the Greenland shark, or grey shark. They can reach a maximum length of 7 meters, which is comparable to the length of the great white shark. The Greenland sharks live in the North, mostly in the deep waters of the North Arctic Ocean and Antarctic Ocean. They are “lazy.” In most cases of being observed, they swim slowly, wandering on the surface of the seabed. Due to this famous characteristic, in our language, the Greenland sharks gained a nickname, the sleepy shark.

In the last couple minutes of the last dive of the field season we found the largest fish we have ever encountered with the ROV, a Greenland Shark.

However, the general features mentioned above are not what impressed people the most. The lifespan of the Greenland sharks is astonishing. They are estimated to live the average lifespan of 400 years, which is the longest of all vertebrate animals. An individual of this species attains sexual maturity when it reaches a body length of 4 meters. Nevertheless, it takes more than 150 years for this to happen, because the growth of the Greenland shark is extremely time-costly: 1 centimeter increase in the body length per year!

When I first got to know this species, I was stunned. As human beings, our lifespan is already longer than that of most other animals on Earth, but now, there is truly a species that readily lives 4 times of our lifespan. Imagine a Greenland shark which is now 350 years old. It has already witnessed most of the human’s modern history. When it was born, most people on Earth still believed in Aristotle and geocentricism, and the modern astronomy had not been established yet. This fact reformed the concept of life in my mind, to compel me to reconsider its limitation and potential.

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Our Neighbor the Space Octopus

Posted on May 4, 2021 by brandonlipper
“Fish-like” rover

While the potential of finding microorganisms on Mars has intrigued us here on Earth for a while now, more advanced life may live on Jupiter’s fourth largest moon: Europa. In fact, Professor Monica Grady has proposed that, not only is life on Europa likely, but said life may include organisms with intelligence similar to that of an octopus. Why can life exist on a moon outside of the solar system’s habitable zone? It likely meets three key requirements: liquid water, building blocks of life, and energy. Firstly, it is expected that a salty ocean exists below Europa’s icy surface based on the moon’s magnetic field and smooth surface that indicates warmer ice has risen to cover up craters. Next, radiation from Jupiter could turn Europa’s surface and water ice into O2, H2O2, CO2, SO2. In addition, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur could have been around when Europa formed and asteroids/comets could have added to this. These materials are the building blocks of life. Finally, Europa needs an energy source and this is provided by tidal heating from Jupiter and radiation from Jupiter (the icy surface protects life below from the radiation).

A really cool aspect of this prospect, as shown in the image above, is the potential method for searching for life on Europa. While microorganisms could be brought to the surface by vents, we would also like to explore below the surface. That is why, in 2015, NASA gave a grant to a project developing a “soft robot” that swims like a lamprey. Hopefully we send a mission to Europa to look for life soon and maybe even find large lifeforms.

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Lucy Spacecraft

Posted on May 4, 2021 by ben141414

Source: Wikipedia

I chose to research Lucy, a future NASA mission, for my final blog. Throughout the semester, my favorite topics we have covered in class have been ones revolving around space exploration. I am fascinated by the complex missions that humans send out into space. Lucy is an upcoming mission set to launch from Cape Canaveral on October 16, 2021 that will explore asteroids in the solar system. It will visit one asteroid in the main asteroid belt and six Trojan asteroids. Trojan asteroids are asteroids that share an orbit with a planet and orbit either in front or behind the planet; these six share an orbit with Jupiter. The Lucy spacecraft will utilize gravity assists from Earth in order to maneuver through the solar system. Overall, it was interesting to learn about these mission plans, and hopefully the Lucy mission will provide valuable information about notable asteroids in the solar system!

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