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Searching for Habitable New Worlds and Life in the Universe Hosted by Night Sky Network.

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Presentation on theme: "Searching for Habitable New Worlds and Life in the Universe Hosted by Night Sky Network."— Presentation transcript:

1 Searching for Habitable New Worlds and Life in the Universe Hosted by Night Sky Network

2 Universal Laws of Biology ? Lawrence Hall of Science Liquid Water DNA Intelligence

3 Is there life elsewhere in our Solar System? The Only Known Site of Biology In the Universe.

4 Mars Liquid Water Impossible Pressure = 0.01 of Earth... too low for Liquid water.

5 Jupiter and Two Moons Io Europa

6 Europa Surface of Jupiter’s Moon: : Europa Fractures in Floating Ice Icebergs

7 Jupiter’s Moon Europa Jupiter’s Moon: EuropaSub-CrustOcean.. Life in the Ocean?.. Hydrogen-Carbon compounds likely: Amino acids First New Ocean Since Balboa

8 Now Exiting our Solar System to … The Milky Way Galaxy.............. Meanwhile, we are hunting for abodes Beyond our Solar System

9 The Discovery of Other Collaborators: Paul Butler, Debra Fischer, Steve Vogt Chris Tinney, Greg Laughlin, Hugh Jones Andrew Cumming, Greg Henry, Jack Lissauer Jason Wright, Brad Carter, Eugenio Rivera, Chris McCarthy, John Johnson www.exoplanets.org

10 Planet Detection Wobble of Star: Gravitational pull by the planet

11 V PL 2 = G M Star / r V PL ~ 10 km/s V Star = V PL V STAR ~ 10 m/s V Star = V PL V STAR ~ 10 m/s x (M PL /M JUP ) x (M PL /M JUP ) Momentum: Wobble Velocity Wobble Velocity M PL M PL M STAR M STAR Energy Equipartition: ( )

12 12 years... Jupiter (Meters/sec) Need Telescope...

13 World’s most Successful Planet Search 1997 – Present 1997 – Present Survey: 1300 Nearby Stars Keck 1

14 Echelle Spectrometer CCD Echelle Grating Collimator Starlight From Telescope High Resolution ``Echelle” Spectrometer

15 Spectrum of Star: Doppler Effect Doppler Precision: v / c ~ 10 -9  ~ 10 -9 4096 Pixels

16 16 Cygni B Mass = 1.7 M JUP (Min) Orbit Period 2.2 yr Not Sinusoidal VelocityWobble

17 Orbit of Planet around 16 Cygni

18 16 Cygni: Planet & Moon

19 Life on Gas Giant Planets ? Floaters Earth-Like Moon

20

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22 Mass = 0.62 M JUP 70 Days

23 Upsilon Andromedae : Velocity Residuals

24 0.6 M JUP 2 M JUP 4 M Jup Upsilon Andromedae: Triple Planet System Planets have No Names........

25 Upsilon Andromedae

26 Per = 1.94 d M = 7.5 M Earth Gliese 876 d Lowest Mass Exoplanet : 7.5 Earth-Masses 1.94 Days 5 m/s

27 Three Planets Orbiting Gliese 876 7 1/2 Earth-masses

28 Ring in Between: Lukewarm Lukewarm Hot: 370 C Cold: -100 C 7.5 Earth-Mass Planet Orbiting Gliese 876 Tides: One Planet Side always Faces Star

29 Milky Way Galaxy 200 billion stars ~10% of all Stars ~10% of all Stars have detected planets. have detected planets. Detected so far: Jupiter-mass Saturn-mass Neptune-mass ~ Earth-Mass ?

30 More Low-Mass Planets Planet Mass

31 Only Known Abode of Life But are they Habitable ? Environments Must Environments Be “Just Right” For Life ? Conclusion: Many Earth- mass Planets

32 Yellowstone National Park : Suitable for Life ? Boiling Geysers Boiling Geysers Freezing winter Freezing winter Sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid. One of the Least Hospitable Places on Earth:

33 Yellowstone Pinwheel Geyser BacteriaThrive Near Boiling: T ~ 80 C Water: Acidic as battery acid Each color a different species of bacterium

34 Life at High Temperature and High Acidity Temp = 65 C pH = 2 pH = 2 Yellowstone

35 Churning Cauldron Yellowstone Churning Cauldron Boiling Temp

36 Churning Cauldron Yellowstone Churning Cauldron Boiling Temp, pH = 2 Bacteria & Algae Thrive Algae pH = 2 Corrosion

37 Cyanidium Calderium Life at Extreme Temp & Extreme Acidity Lives only at T > 60 C

38 Extremophiles Show that Life Tolerates heat or cold Takes food from a variety of sources Thrives in acidic or alkaline environments Copes with Intense Solar Radiation - - or none! Copes with Intense Solar Radiation - - or none! Liquid Water Life Primitive Life: Common in the Universe

39 Is our Milky Way Galaxy Teeming with Intelligent Life ? Galaxy is Galaxy is 10 Billion Years Old 10 Billion Years Old - - - Twice the Age of Earth - - - Twice the Age of Earth 50% of Stars are50% of Stars are as Old as the Sun & Earth as Old as the Sun & Earth Many stars & planets older by billions of years! Many stars & planets older by billions of years! How Many Civilizations ?

40 Is our Milky Way Teeming with Intelligent Life ? 20 Billion20 Billion Planetary Systems: Planetary Systems: 1/2 are older than Earth 1/2 are older than Earth What fraction have What fraction have Intelligent Life? Intelligent Life? Pessimist: 1 in a MillionPessimist: 1 in a Million There must be Thousands of Civilizations In the Milky Way Galaxy...

41 ............

42 Where is Everybody? Why Didn’t They Come Here? Moon: No Alien Spacecraft, Crash Debris, ObeliskMoon: No Alien Spacecraft, Crash Debris, Obelisk Mars: Same StoryMars: Same Story Earth: Lovely Planet for 4 Billion Years...Earth: Lovely Planet for 4 Billion Years... Yet, no Alien Settlement. Yet, no Alien Settlement. 100’s of Telescopes: No Alien Ships spotted100’s of Telescopes: No Alien Ships spotted Night Sky: No Exotic Rocket ExhaustNight Sky: No Exotic Rocket Exhaust No Robotic Probes Visit Solar SystemNo Robotic Probes Visit Solar System SETI: No Radio Signals in 40 years.SETI: No Radio Signals in 40 years.

43 Where Is Everybody? Thousands of Civilizations in GalaxyHypothesis: - Thousands of Civilizations in Galaxy - Head Start of Billions of years. - Head Start of Billions of years. They should be Near! They should be Near! Migration Throughout Galaxy: Easy with robotic spacecraft ================================================= Observation: No Aliens Detected, and no Traces. Hypothesis possibly flawed.Conclusion: Hypothesis possibly flawed. ( Ants eventually find your Kitchen) ( Ants eventually find your Kitchen)

44 . How Long do Technological Civilizations Last? Expect: 1000 Civilizations in 5 Billion Years in 5 Billion Years For Multiple Civilizations Today, Lifetimes Must Overlap: Lifetime > 5 Million yr

45 Recipe for Exobiology:  Planets  Chemicals  Water  Energy - - - Stars, Tidal, Geothermal Stars, Tidal, Geothermal Life: Probably Common in the Universe. Primitive Life, at least February 5, 1996

46 SETI ATA: Proposed Radio Telescope Array

47 Life in our Milky Way Galaxy: Life in our Milky Way Galaxy: Primitive Life: Common Intelligence: Rare ? Intelligence Semi-Intelligent Life forms..

48 www.exoplanets.org


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