Where is Everyone?

Posted on May 4, 2022 by isaiandrade01

The “Pale Blue Dot” as seen from Voyager 1

The Fermi Paradox was developed in 1950 by the Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi. The paradox itself refers to the notion that if there is an extremely high possibility of life outside of Earth, then why have humans not discovered evidence of other intelligent life forms. This could be for a multitude of different reasons such as maybe multiple intelligent civilizations had developed, but similar to humans they were not able to sustain the planet they resided on, and they had no other way of escaping so they died out a lot earlier than before humans came into existence. Another possibility is that there are much more advanced civilizations in the universe; however, they have realized the destructive tendencies that humans posses and choose not to interact with us. Even another option is that there are numerous civilizations on par with humans on Earth, so none of them have been able to develop the technology to properly explore the rest of the universe.

The possibilities and theories to the Fermi paradox are endless, but perhaps something that would offer a solution would be finding evidence of life on a different world. For example, it’s known that the moons of giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn are capable of possessing subsurface oceans that may hold other forms of life. Discovering life on a world such as this would not only confirm evidence of other life in our solar system, but it would be a great indicator that there is indeed life outside of our solar system and throughout the universe. I personally find the endless possibilites to Fermi’s paradox quite intriguing. It really makes us think about what else is out there, and it gives us humans something else to strive towards.

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What I’ve learned

Posted on May 4, 2022 by joubertklopper

Walking into astronomy class in late January, I was not even sure if I would be able to name the eight planets in our solar system. It is safe to say that I’ve learned a lot.

I think the most important thing I learned is how big our universe really is and how everything explains everything and that if there are something we are not able to explain, then we have either not completely gotten the science for it or something happened that we did not account for. I felt like in this class, the more I learned about the solar system and our universe, the more I knew how little knowledge I really have of what lies beyond our sky. I think it was super interesting to learn about the solar system’s eight planets, why they are the way they are and what makes them unique and more importantly how do they connect to earth. I also thought that the solar nebula theory was super interesting and not knowing about it before this class, I found it fascinating and astonishing how people are smart enough to develop theories like that. In all, I loved this class and I think the knowledge I gained is invaluable. I also think that there is still so much to learn about our universe and I can’t wait to see how science develops in the near-by future. Thank you Professor Grundstrom and TA Jorge.

Our Solar System

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Alien civilizations. How many are there?

Posted on May 4, 2022 by joubertklopper

Throughout my life, I have always been curious of what lies beyond our sky and more importantly who lies there? After discussing the Drake Equation in class and also the probabilities and alignments necessary for there to be life, I am going to address this topic.

According to the Guardian, scientists say that the amount of possible communicable alien civilizations could be as much as 36. Using the Drake equation, scientists made the assumption based off their knowledge surrounding life on Earth and how life developed to the way it is today. Their number comes from the belief that life forms through a scientific way and not just by chance. This allowed an accurate prediction of 36 as according to them. With a pessimistic view and the assumption that life forms between 4.5bn and 5.5bn years after on planets after the formation of that planets’ star, scientists could conclude the number of civilizations currently present in the Milky Way is between four and 211 which is crazy to think about.

Aliens are possible?!

Furthermore the Guardian states that humans would have to wait about 6120 years for two way communication to occur which is unfortunate for us living right now. It is calculated that the closest civilization is 17000 light years away and for communication to travel to and from that distance, takes a significant amount of time.

The probability for life to exist there up in the sky is something that scares me, yet overwhelms me with curiosity and excitement and I can’t wait to see where science goes from here.

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Wrapping Up Solar System

Posted on May 4, 2022 by isaiandrade01

Earthrise as viewed from the Moon on the Apollo 8 Mission

One of the biggest takeaways I have from the Solar System course is how different perspectives can be, and how they can really shape the way we think about not only space-related topics but life in general. The picture above is a prime example of perspective as almost everything we know about space is viewed from the perspective of people on Earth. With the most recent chapter we learned in class, discussing Drake’s Equation and the possibility of other civilizations being able to communicate, I now have very high hopes that there is definitely life out there. Although we’re not sure what life may be on other worlds outside of our own planet, I think it’s very interesting to consider what other life forms think about Earth. Have they been able to view the entire history of humanity unraveling? If they have, is that the reason they’re avoiding our planet and communication?

A lot of what I learned throughout this course surprised me and changed what I thought I knew about the solar system. Most notably, learning about all the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and learning how multiple moons possibly contain subsurface oceans just opened up a new type of desire to explore within me. I was always very interested in astronomy and space exploration, which is why I wanted to do aerospace engineering and ended up with mechanical engineering and a minor in astronomy at Vanderbilt. However, not only do I wish to be able to work on projects that will be able to send humanity to future worlds to colonize them and continue to survive, but now I also wish to be a part of one someday and see for myself the beauty of other worlds, beyond the planet where humanity began.

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Culminating (Post 8)

Posted on May 4, 2022 by ccatanese1
Source: Science Sparks

Throughout the course of this semester I have had the opportunity to learn so much about our Solar System as well as the universe as a whole. Blogging about current events in astronomy has taught me a lot about the projects that are being funded and the steps astronomers are taking to research new areas. I always knew the universe was massive but learning about the idea that the universe may be much bigger than observable universe made me view it in a whole new light. I am excited to continue reading about advances in physics and new technologies being created in order to research our Solar System in order to learn more about planetary formation, the conditions for life to exist, and new technologies being used for space exploration.

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Extremophiles (Post 7)

Posted on May 4, 2022 by ccatanese1
Source: Yellowstone Vacations

Extremophiles are types of organisms that can survive in abnormal or extreme conditions. The picture above is a popular tourist destination in Yellowstone National Park known as “Grand Prismatic Spring.” The spring is extremely hot at 160 degrees Fahrenheit but it is famous for its vibrant colors. These colors are actually caused by a type of extremophile known as a thermophile. Thermophiles can survive in high temperatures and one of the reasons that certain groups of scientists believe that there may be life in other areas of the universe is because there may be extremophiles that can survive in even harsher conditions. The temperature range that scientists believe life can exist in is -40 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees Celsius. The existence of extremophiles makes it more likely that there is life on other planets with extreme conditions. By increasing the funding for studies of areas with extreme living conditions, we may learn more about life on our planet as well as the potential for alien life in the universe.

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Black Hole Systems

Posted on May 4, 2022 by evang914

Stars are capable of being pulled into the orbit of black holes due to their incredible mass. As the stars begin to orbit the black hole, mass from the star is pulled towards the black hole in the form of gas from the star’s atmosphere. NASA believes that the black hole collects the mass as either a steady stream of gas flowing from the star to the black hole or from the star’s stellar wind being consumed by the black hole. The collected gas creates the swirling accretion disk of the black hole that glows in visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light. Astronomers can use this light to understand the strength of the gravitational field and the mass of the object acting on the star, allowing them to make determinations about the existence of black holes.

NASA recently released a video visualization that displays 22 of these confirmed binary black hole systems in the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy 160,000 light-years away. Some stars have an orbital period as low as a few hours, while others orbit a black hole 15x more massive than the sun. The teardrop-shaped excess from the stars represents the parasitic nature of the black hole stealing mass from its companion star. All systems shown are X-Ray binary systems, meaning that as the mass is falling from the star to the black hole, it releases gravitational potential energy in the form of X-Rays.

via NASA Goddard

Source: Gizmodo, Astronomy.com, Wikipedia

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The Myths of the Fermi Paradox

Posted on May 4, 2022 by evang914
Enrico Fermi, via Smithsonian Magazine

For decades, the Fermi Paradox has been cited as evidence that if other intelligent life existed out there in our universe they would have inevitably made their way to Earth by now as a part of interstellar exploration or colonization. The paradox is named for Enrico Fermi, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited with building the first nuclear reactor. The myth of the Fermi Paradox begins with Fermi himself; he had never made such a claim that aliens do not exist, nor published any materials about extraterrestrial life.

The story goes that at a lunch looking at a New Yorker cartoon of flying saucers in 1950, Fermi commented “Where is everybody?” in reference to the lack of cited alien ships. The discussion at that point turned towards the feasibility of interstellar space travel, with Fermi concluding its existence to be unlikely. He did not question the potential for ET life, however. Astronomer Michael Hart in the 1970s first jumped to the conclusion that if aliens aren’t here, then they aren’t anywhere. His argument was that if smart aliens existed they would inevitably colonize the milky way, but since they haven’t, we must be alone. Fermi’s question regarding the feasibility of interstellar travel mistakenly became engraved with the sentiment, and Hart’s leap of logic has been questioned many times by others.

The other myth of the Fermi Paradox is that it is even a paradox. Logical contradictions do not exist between the statements extraterrestrial life might exist elsewhere and extraterrestrial life does not exist on Earth. Regardless, Fermi’s Paradox has been cited as evidence against the funding of SETI projects. In 1981 a Senator from Wisconsin cited it as a reason for killing NASA’s SETI project. Although it was restarted for a few years, in 1993 it was killed again, and as of 2016, no new programs searching for life have been given government funds.

Source: Scientific American

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The Future of Space: Defense and Exploration

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Brian
The crew of the recent Axiom Space private mission to the ISS, another example of the private sector expanding into space travel

Our recent studies of impacts and life in the universe have made me consider the future of astronomy and space travel. The incessant threat of a catastrophic impact means that there will always be a focus on impactor defense here on Earth, and humanity’s natural urge for expansion and exploration will surely result in future innovation in space travel. In my opinion, two recent news stories about space and science have given us insight into what the future holds: constant interaction between space agencies, politics, militaries, and the private sector.

The first news story reports on a 2014 meteor that was suspected to be of interstellar origin. Researchers had relied on sensitive data from US military missile-detection satellites, however, and it was impossible to verify their claims without compromising classified US intelligence capabilities. In April, though, the US Space Command released a memo seemingly confirming that the meteor was an interstellar object. While this conclusion is still up for debate, I found it fascinating that the US military has unique access to such important astronomical data. Looking to the future, the article mentions that NASA and the US Space Force have agreed to collaborate on the issue of planetary defense. As Earth continues to build out its impactor defense capabilities and systems, it will be fascinating to see how these agencies interact and create a plan to save Earth from a potential threat.

The second story, about crowding on the ISS, reveals more about the intersection of space travel, politics, and the private sector. Fueled by innovations by SpaceX, space travel has become cheaper and more common, pushing our older infrastructure like the ISS to its limits. In the near future, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will be rotated into use alongside SpaceX rockets by NASA, signaling even more growth in the business of space travel. Space travel has also become more accessible to amateur astronauts: one group on the ISS at the time was a private trip run by Axiom Space. Furthermore, the United States and Russia renewed their agreement to jointly administer the ISS, showing how cooperation in space can transcend political tension on Earth. As space travel becomes more frequent and transitions into a joint private-public venture in the near future, I will be watching to see how cosmic priorities align with or compete with terrestrial objectives.

We are living in an incredibly active time of progress both for Earth-focused astronomy and space exploration, and if humanity wants to achieve its lofty goals on both fronts, there will need to be significant interaction between space programs, private businesses, the armed forces, and politics.

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Fermi Paradox Answered?! (not clickbait)

Posted on May 3, 2022 by alexbawa

After hastily copy pasting “Fermi Paradox” into my search bar when I saw it was a potential topic for blogging, the results I found gave me an exciting opportunity. Understanding why we haven’t detected aliens seemed right up the alley of Kurzgesagt, a youtube channel that specializes in the intersection of physics and philosophy. Luckily for me, the channel had not one, but two videos on the subject.

The Fermi Paradox questions why we haven’t detected any life outside of Earth, especially if the Cosmological Principle holds. Given that the universe is homogenous and infinite, it doesn’t make sense for Earth to be the only host of life. This provides two trains of thought: we are actually a special case, or we just aren’t equipped to detect other life that shares our time in the universe. Given that much of astronomy is built on our solar system not being the favorite child, I don’t buy too deeply into the former. The latter, however, sparks some exciting conversation.

Primarily, it’s possible that intelligent life has existed (a lot), but they died off before we were ready to have any chance of realizing they were there. The videos suggest that there are barriers that our society has yet to meet that may have killed off other civilizations.

Kurzgesagt visualization of civilization barriers

Given that these challenges likely follow advanced communication ability relatively quickly, the window for opportunity is slim. That being said, it’s also possible that we still don’t have the technology to communicate in the ways we need to, even if there are other inhabitants in our universe.

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