Alien Realities

Very Elliptical Orbits and Possible Life

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:03:00 +0000

As Spock Would Say?

From time to time I read about how planets in very elliptical orbits, orbits which take the planet in and out of the star's habitable zone, will probably not harbor life. Just too extreme. Of course if such a planet can support life, it would be, as that saying by Mr. Spock goes "it's life, Jim, but not as we know it." (Yes, I know that the line was not spoken by Spock in the series, but only in The Firms' song "Star Trekkin.'") But wait a minute. In pondering the report mentioned in the Creatures Frozen for 32,000 Years Still Alive post below maybe we should revisit those assumptions.

Or Not

Bacteria have been found buried deep in solid rock - bacteria with very slow metabolic states and are probably thousands of years old. Penn State scientists discovered in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) dormant ultra-small bacteria (Chryseobacterium greenlandensis) trapped 2 miles deep in 120,000 year old ice core samples. If Earth creatures can reanimate after being frozen for tens of thousands of years, if other Earth creatures can last for hundreds of thousands of years, or even millions, then 1) life can be possible in very elliptical orbits and 2) it still could be life as we know it. We have many example of extreme life on Earth, living under conditions scientists not long ago said were not able to support life: from deep in antarctic ice, to miles below the surface of the Earth, to boiling hot springs, to volcanic vents on the sunless depths of the ocean floor, to acidic mine drainage, to the stratosphere -- life is everywhere on this planet, and in many, many forms.

Kol-Ut-Shan, as Spock Would More Likely Say

So, is it truly implausible that life can evolve on planets that orbit in and out of the habitable zone? Evolution may possibly take longer, but the most common star, the red dwarf, develop very slowly, lasting up to hundreds of billions of years. Plenty of time for life to evolve and in its own fashion thrive. Most of the time we put a limit on where life can exist on the Earth, we later find we are wrong.

Maybe we should embrace the Star Trek Vulcan philosophy of IDIC: Infinite Diversity from Infinite Combinations (Kol-Ut-Shan according to an episode of ST: Voyager). Though if life has universal laws (like physics and chemistry, on which biology depends), I am not sure about the Infinite part. Natural laws do have some limits, boundaries, ranges. But even so, the range of diversity that can arise is still vast. Maybe it should have been ADAC: Astronomical Diversity from Astronomical Combinations. Or IDAC: Incredible Diversity from Astronomical Combinations. Of course, it is a trivial difference to be concerned over.

What matters is that there is an incredible array of life on this planet. Especially if we not only consider all the varied environments life can be found now on Earth, but all the varieties of life that have existed in all the varied Earth environments (some radically different) in the past as well. An incredible, astronomical diversity.

Reference:

Coghlan, Andy. "'Resurrection Bug' Revived after 120,000 Years." Life. New Scientist. 15 June 2009. Web. 30 July 2009. <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17305-resurrection-bug-revived-after-120000-years.html>

Helmuth, Laura. "Top Ten Places Where Life Shouldn't Exist... But Does." Science & Nature. Smithsonian Magazine. 13 October 2009. Web. 5 September 2012. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Top-Ten-Places-Where-Life-Shouldnt-Exist-But-Does.html#ixzz25e81Ip2i>

"IDIC" Memory Alpha, The Star Trek Wiki. n.d. Web. 5 September 2012. <http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/IDIC>

"Novel bacterial species found trapped in Greenland's ice." Penn State Live. Penn State University. 3 June 2008. Web. 30 July 2009. <http://live.psu.edu/story/31052>

Blog Direction

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 21:37:00 +0000

I've been tempted to report on all the news on exoplanetary search/research - but there are other blogs that do this already, in more depth, and in a far more consistent manner. So much is going on in this area, and I find myself expanding what I want to cover, but in my deep interest in this topic, I have strayed from my purpose for this blog -commentary on the developments in the fields of exoplanet and astrobiological research; in other words, speculations on alien biologies, psychologies, and theologies, as well as speculation on their impact on human cultures. The end result is I have become unfocused and conflicted about this blog and thus end up doing little. Time to make a decision. I am working on a new blog description to reflect my tightened focus. I will also go to a weekly update schedule - probably a Saturday update, to establish a rhythm, a ritual habit, a more disciplined schedule for myself. Maybe this will help establish dialogues with others - as we toss speculations back and forth, and ponder the exciting, and at times terrifying, idea of other life beyond the Earth.

New Technique to Weigh Planets

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 21:50:00 +0000

New Technique to Weigh Planets

Summary: For the first time, scientists have developed a method for determining the mass of non-transiting exoplanets. The research could even lead to techniques for detecting molecules associated with the presence of life on such worlds.

All Known (as of June 2012) Planets to Scale (drawn by xkcd)

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:41:00 +0000

http://xkcd.com/1071/

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/mat-kaplan/20120620-xkcd-all_exoplanets.html

Exoplanet Study Suggests our Solar System is the Norm

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:29:00 +0000

Astrobiology Magazine

Exoplanet Study Suggests our Solar System is the Norm
Source: Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto press release

Cosmic Evolution Posted: 04/14/12

Summary: A new study reveals that planetary orbits around Sun-like stars have a tendency to be strongly aligned, similar to the disk-like alignment of the planets in our own solar system.

Exoplanets with non-coplanar orbits.
Credit: Ricardo Reis, Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto

Recently, the HARPS spectrograph and the Kepler satellite made a census of the planetary population around stars like our own, revealing a bounty of planetary systems. A follow-up study lead by members of the EXOEarths team (Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto -- CAUP), in collaboration with Geneva University, did a joint analysis of the data which showed that the planetary orbits in a system are strongly aligned, like in a disk, just as we have in our own solar system.

The two most effective methods for detecting extrasolar planets are the radial-velocity method and the transit method. The radial-velocity method detects planets through the reflex motion induced by the planet on the star’s velocity on the radial direction (hence the name). This velocity variation is detected through the Doppler effect, the same that leads to a pitch change in the sound of an traveling ambulance. On the other hand, a planetary transit is akin to a mini-eclipse. As a planet travels around the star, its orbit can locate it in front of the star, and the light we collect from the star is reduced because the planet blocks part of it (even though we cannot image the planet).

Astrobiology Magazine

The Elusive "Wow!"

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:15:00 +0000

The Elusive "Wow!" - What We Do | The Planetary Society
The Quest for the "WOW!" - One Man's search for SETI's Most Promising Signal

Review of Robert H. Gray, The Elusive Wow: Searching for Extraterrestrial intelligence (Chicago: Palmer Square Press, 2011). A Radio SETI update by Amir Alexander. January 27, 2012.

<http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/seti_radio_searches/20120127.html>

Alien Life: Potential habitability of 55 Cancri AB star system and why life began to produce oxygen

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Alien Life: Potential habitability of 55 Cancri AB star system and why life began to produce oxygen

Creatures Frozen for 32,000 Years Still Alive

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Creatures frozen for 32,000 years still alive - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - msnbc.com

"The existence of microorganisms in these harsh environments suggests — but does not promise -- that we might one day discover similar life forms in the glaciers or permafrost of Mars or in the ice crust and oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa," said Richard Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.....Hoover said the creatures he has found might be able to survive in their suspended state for millions of years. The discovery opens up a whole new possibility that a future mission to Mars might be able to retrieve any life that's there."

Reference:

Britt, Robert Roy. "Creatures Frozen for 32,00 Years Still Alive." Science. msnbc.com. 24 Feb. 2005 Web. 6 Jan. 2012. .

SETI Home needs your help.

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:16:00 +0000

December 2011

Dear SETI@home Volunteer:

We need your help to continue the search for extraterrestrial intelligence!

For the last eleven years, SETI@home has brought the search for extraterrestrial intelligence to millions of households around the world. SETI@home is the longest operating SETI search. We use the largest and most sensitive telescopes on earth to scan the skies for the faint whispers of another technology. Your tax-deductible donation will help enable us to continue the SETI@home and Astropulse projects at Arecibo Observatory, as well as pursue ambitious new experiments all over the world. SETI@home is primarily funded by the financial support of its participants. Your contribution is vital to sustaining our search for intelligent life on other worlds.
During the last year, we have laid the groundwork for expanding SETI@home into new portions of the radio spectrum and new regions of the sky. We have performed observations of Kepler exoplanets with the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, USA, and we are very close to releasing these data to SETI@home and Astropulse volunteers. These observations will allow us to conduct the most sensitive search for intelligent life on these new worlds ever performed. We are also working with our colleagues at observatories all over the planet to install additional SETI@home data recorders to operate in piggy-back mode.

In addition to conducting SETI experiments, the SETI@home group actively trains the next generation of SETI scientists, working with students from high school through doctoral studies. Your contribution directly affects our ability to support additional students working with our group. Engaging the next generation of astronomers and engineers in SETI is absolutely crucial to ensuring its future.
Please consider a donation to SETI@home this holiday season. Any amount you can contribute would be an immense help in sustaining and growing the SETI@home search for extraterrestrial intelligent life. To contribute click here.

Thank you for your support and continuing dedication to SETI@home.

Sincerely,

Andrew Siemion, Project Scientist
P.S.: We are now able to accept PayPal donations!

Andrew Siemion is an astrophysics Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. His research activities focus on designing instruments and experiments to detect rare and novel radio phenomena.

Kepler Confirms ExoPlanet in a Habitable Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:22:00 +0000

An exciting development - a Earth-like planet in a habitable zone (even possible that it has Earth-like temperatures). I am sure this planet will be the target of many investigations, especially as newer, more sensitive, equipment come on line.

This artist's conception illustrates Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. Image Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone," the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

Previous research hinted at the existence of near-Earth-size planets in habitable zones, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Two other small planets orbiting stars smaller and cooler than our sun recently were confirmed on the very edges of the habitable zone, with orbits more closely resembling those of Venus and Mars.

Read more of this NASA press release at: <http://astrobio.net/pressrelease/4381/kepler-confirms-exoplanet-in-a-habitable-zone>.

xkcd: The Corliss Resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:37:00 +0000

Youngest Planet Seen As It’s Forming

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:27:00 +0000

Kamuela, HI – The first direct image of a planet in the process of forming around its star has been captured by astronomers who combined the power of the 10-meter Keck telescopes with a bit of optical sleight of hand.

What astronomers are calling LkCa 15 b, looks like a hot “protoplanet” surrounded by a swath of cooler dust and gas, which is falling into the still-forming planet. Images have revealed that the forming planet sits inside a wide gap between the young parent star and an outer disk of dust.

“LkCa 15 b is the youngest planet ever found, about 5 times younger than the previous record holder,” said astronomer Adam Kraus of the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. “This young gas giant is being built out of the dust and gas. In the past, you couldn’t measure this kind of phenomenon because it’s happening so close to the star. But, for the first time, we’ve been able to directly measure the planet itself as well as the dusty matter around it.”

Kraus will be presenting the discovery at an Oct. 19 meeting at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The meeting follows the acceptance of a research paper on the discovery by Kraus and Michael Ireland (of Macquarie University and the Australian Astronomical Observatory), in The Astrophysical Journal (available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.3808)

Figure 1 Left: The transitional disk around the star LkCa15. All of the light at this wavelength is emitted by cold dust in the disk. the hole in the center indicates an inner gap with radius of about 55 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Right: An expanded view of the central part of the cleared region, showing a composite of two reconstructed images (blue: 2.1 microns, from November 2010; red: 3.7 microns) for LkCa 15. The location of the central star is also marked.

The optical sleight of hand used by the astronomers is to combine the power of Keck’s Adaptive Optics with a technique called aperture mask interferometry. The former is the use of a deformable mirror to rapidly correct for atmospheric distortions to starlight. The latter involves placing a small mask with several holes in the path of the light collected and concentrated by a giant telescope. With that, the scientists can manipulate the light waves.

“It’s like we have an array of small mirrors,” said Kraus. “We can manipulate the light and cancel out distortions.” The technique allows the astronomers to cancel out the bright light of stars. They can then resolve disks of dust around stars and see gaps in the dusty layers where protoplanets may be hiding.

“Interferometry has actually been around since the 1800’s, but through the use of adaptive optics has only been able to reach nearby young suns for about the last 7 years.” said Dr. Ireland. “Since then we’ve been trying to push the technique to its limits using the biggest telescopes in the world, especially Keck.”

The discovery of LkCa 15 b began as a survey of 150 young dusty stars in star forming regions. That led to the more concentrated study of a dozen stars.

“LkCa 15 was only our second target, and we immediately knew we were seeing something new,” said Kraus. “We could see a faint point source near the star, so thinking it might be a Jupiter-like planet we went back a year later to get more data.”

Figure 2 The location of LkCa 15 can be found using this chart.

In further investigations at varying wavelengths, the astronomers were intrigued to discover that the phenomenon was more complex than a single companion object.

“We realized we had uncovered a super Jupiter-sized gas planet, but that we could also measure the dust and gas surrounding it. We’d found a planet, perhaps even a future solar system at its very beginning” said Kraus.

Drs. Kraus and Ireland plan to continue their observations of LkCa 15 and other nearby young stars in their efforts to construct a clearer picture of how planets and solar systems form.

# # #

The W. M. Keck Observatory operates two 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The twin telescopes feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectroscopy and a world-leading laser guide star adaptive optics system which cancels out much of the interference caused by Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. The Observatory is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization and a scientific partnership of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and NASA.

Source: "Youngest Planet Seen As It's Forming." W. M. Keck Observatory. 2011. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.keckobservatory.org/news/first_close-up_view_of_a_planet_being_formed/>

TAKE ACTION ALERT! Tell the White House to Let NASA Explore Mars

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:13:00 +0000

Humanity’s exploration of Mars will be put on hold for the foreseeable future. We can’t let that happen! ACT NOW!

TAKE ACTION ALERT!
Tell the White House to Let NASA Explore Mars

The October 12 deadline can not be moved.

If you want to see Mars explored, please take action now.

The future of NASA’s – and the world’s -- exploration of Mars is hanging by a thread. And that thread may soon be cut by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB.)

I am writing you to ask that you take immediate action to prevent what could be a fatal blow to Mars exploration for the foreseeable future. Please write to John Holdren, the President’s Science Advisor, and ask him to support NASA’s Mars exploration program.

Right now, the OMB is considering whether to let NASA accept an offer of partnership -- and more than $1 billion dollars -- from the European Space Agency (ESA) so that the two space agencies can work together to launch a mission to Mars in 2016 and to follow it with a 2018 mission that would lay the groundwork for the long-sought Mars Sample Return.

To transfer the money, ESA is asking NASA for a letter committing the U.S. space agency to a solid partnership with the European agency. But NASA is an agency of the U.S. Administration and must do as it is told by powers like OMB–and it appears that that White House office is reluctant to let NASA make that commitment.

Scott Hubbard, former “Mars Czar” for NASA, summarizes the situation: “The European Space Agency is willing to put €850 million ($1.16 billion) to collaborate with us. But for reasons unknown, somewhere in the administration somebody is refusing to release the letter that would allow the head of ESA to collaborate with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Why on Earth would you refuse to allow over $1 billion of funding? It borders on the irresponsible.”

Mars exploration is expensive – we all understand that. It has reached the point where no one nation – not even the United States -- can afford to do it alone. That’s exactly why ESA has made this offer to share the cost.

If that offer is rejected, it will cause chaos in Mars exploration programs around the world. All the careful plans so painstakingly developed between NASA and ESA will come to naught.

Humanity’s exploration of Mars will be put on hold for the foreseeable future.

We can’t let that happen! And we have to act now!

Please, today, contact John Holdren at the Office of Science and Technology Policy and ask him to intervene and let NASA send that letter to ESA. The ESA Ministerial Council is meeting on October 12 and, if they don’t see that letter from NASA by then, they may order ESA to back out of is collaboration with NASA to explore Mars.

If you want to see Mars explored, please take action now.

Thank you.

Bill Nye
Executive Director

Planetary Society
85 S. Grand Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105

Become a Planet Hunter and Help Find the Next Exoplanet!

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:39:00 +0000

Want to help find exoplanets, but don't have access to major observatory or space telescope? Despair not, for anyone can join the Planet Hunters for free and begin helping professional astronomers wade through all the data pouring in from the Kepler spacecraft. Two exoplanet candidates have already been discovered by Planet Hunter members.

Visit Planet Hunters at: http://www.planethunters.org/

For more information visit the Astrobiology Magazine 24 September 2011 Press Release, "How You Can Find an ExoPlanet," and, of course, the Planet Hunters' Web site.

References:

"How You Can Find an ExoPlanet." News. Astrobiology Magazine. Ed. Helen Matsos. NASA. 24 Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Sept. 2011. < http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/4234/how-you-can-find-an-exoplanet >

Planet Hunters. n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2011. < http://www.planethunters.org/ >

Why explore space?

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:38:00 +0000

We will go back to the moon. We will send humans to Mars. We will explore asteroids. We will continue the search for exoplanets, especially for those capable of harboring life. Human beings, generally speaking, are explorers. Holed up, static, we deteriorate. Pushing boundaries, dynamic, we innovate. How many great spin-offs from space exploration do we enjoy in our daily lives? How many important spin-offs from space exploration has extended or saved lives? Going back to the Moon, going to Mars, and out beyond, as well as searching for exoplanets, will make breakthrough discoveries that better serve mankind.

Exploring space is an endeavor that brings peoples together. It is an endeavor that benefits our economies. It is an endeavor that lifts our spirits, excites our imaginations, stirs our souls. It is worshiping the works of God. Humans will return to the Moon, go to Mars, explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and discover new worlds outside our solar system (even if we can only explore them passively from afar). We will do it with robots, small and large; we will do it with astronauts; and to some extent we will do it even, later on, with citizen explorers. We need to look outward from ourselves, and look back to see ourselves in perspective. We will As T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem “Little Gidding”:

And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

We need to explore, to learn. Moon –> Mars –> and Beyond.

SETI's telescopes to go back online, resuming hunt for alien life

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:42:00 +0000

SETI's telescopes to go back online, resuming hunt for alien life

This week the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute announced that it had raised more than $200,000 from a crowd-sourced fundraising effort that launched earlier this spring. The money, which came from just over 2,000 people who want to keep the search for alien life alive, will help the institute put its Allen Telescope Array back online.

US Airmen give testimony at UFO press conferece.

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:53:00 +0000

UFO Press Conference

27 September 2010, seven former Air Force officers spoke of UFO incidents at nuclear defense bases where the UFOs disabled the nuclear weapons. Interesting testimony, if true (not saying the testimony is not true, just that I'm keeping an open mind about the matter). UFOs always seemed a bit odd in their behavior in that they seem on one hand to not want contact, but on the other hand tease us. That is, instead of just landing outright and saying hi (I'm sure they've studied our TV, radio, and now Internet enough that they can figure out how to say "hi") or broadcasting a message, or appearing near a city and stay there for a few days so that everyone can be sure of what they saw, they "flirt" with us. Brief, momentary encounters that leave little, to no, evidence. Just enough to tantalize. Why? To test our reactions to determine if they should move to the next step? Or is it that there are galactic restrictions from contacting primitive planets but some just can't help themselves and poke at the humans while the galactic security folk aren't looking? It's intriguing.

UFOs and our Nukes

The UFOs disabling nuclear weapons sounds like a few classic science fiction movie scenarios - the UFOs coming to make sure we do not kill ourselves, saving us from ourselves. Wishful thinking? Would an alien race care that much? Would it interfere with their field observations (like scientists watching a young walrus struggle to find its mother - interfering with the observation by saving the young walrus would reduce the effectiveness of the data being collected)? Is there a Prime Directive? Is life so common that who cares if one planet's sentient beings destroy themselves? Or is life so rare that it warrants saving at the last minute? Though I would think aliens that advanced could just snag enough humans, place them in suspended animation, to redeposit them after its all over and the planet has recovered enough for human habitation again.

Many questions, few, if any, answers.

Reference:

Gekas, Alexandra. "Daily Buzz: US Airmen Give Eerie Testimony at UFO Press Conference." The Daily WD. Woman'sDay. 28 September 2010. Web. 25 October 2010. <http://dailywd.womansday.com/blog/2010/09/daily-buzz-us-airmen-give-eerie-testimony-at-ufo-press-conference.html>

Why the Silence from E.T.?

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:50:00 +0000

Humorous, but as in all good humor, a kernel of truth? I was thinking on this very thought for awhile - would advanced, especially postbiologic, beings either destroy themselves or get so wrapped up in virtual reality technology that they turn inwards and not actively care about technologically primitive aliens (not care enough to contact them)?

Reference:
Weiner, Zac. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. 18 Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

Binary Stars: A Rough Neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:16:00 +0000

NASA/JPL-Caltech

In an earlier post, Planets thrive around binary star systems, we learned that planetary systems around binary stars, specifically tight binary stars, may be more common than planetary systems around single stars (by a ratio of 3:1). However, the title "Planets thrive" may be misleading. While there may be more planets around tight binary star systems, they may exist in a rough neighborhood.

Gravity Slam Dancing

The problem arises from the gravitational dance of the binary stars. As they dance tightly around a common center of gravity, they find themselves moving closer to each other, always facing each other. This is not a sweet, romantic dance. The stars spin rapidly, creating massive magnetic fields and intense solar winds. But worse yet is that the intense solar winds slow the stars down, pulling them closer to each other. As stars dance closer, their gravitational effects on the planets orbiting them change - creating chaos and a great likelihood for collisions between planets, asteroids, and comets.

There Goes the Neighborhood

This chaos does not bode well for life. While it may be argued that some chaos is good as it may add to evolutionary pressure, too much chaos is not good - especially if that chaos means your planet colliding with another, or being pummeled by one too many extinction event asteroids. And even if your planet does not collide with another, it may change orbit, moving out of the habitable zone. Either way, there goes the life-giving neighborhood.

This is not to say life in a tight binary star system is impossible, or that high order sentient life cannot evolve and survive; but it does mean that such a system is not the top candidate to target in a search for life.

Reference:

Clavin, Whitney. "Pulverized Planet Dust May Lie Around Double Stars." Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. 23 August 2010. Web. 25 August 2010.

Life in the Infrared

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 06:59:00 +0000

In1996 scientists were surprised to find a version of chlorophyll, chlorophyll d, in a cyanobacterium (blue-green algae or blue-green bacteria) that can photosynthesize light at 710nm, just in the infrared region. How it can get enough energy to photosynthesize is a mystery right now. It is possible that it acts more like chlorophyll a, passing on the captured energy to other chlorophyll molecules which then do the actual photosynthesis.

Recently, Dr Min Chen, from the University of Sydney, discovered in cyanobacterium living inside stromatolites another chlorophyll molecule which can absorb infrared light - this time deeper into the infrared range at 720 nm. This molecule, chlorophyll f, raises the same question as with chlorophyll d: how does it get enough energy from infrared light to photosynthesize oxygen? Or does it act as a helper, passing on the energy to other chlorophyll?

While this discovery has implications for biotechnology and bioenergy, it also has implications for life on other planets. As Dr. Chen remarks:

the fact that we have discovered a cyanobacterium that exploits a tiny modification in its chlorophyll molecule to photosynthesise in light that we cannot see, opens our mind to the seemingly limitless ways that organisms adapt to survive in their environment.

This helps expands the environmental range where we can look for life. For instance, it helps increase the possibility of life arising around class M stars (see Color of Life for more information). Yet more evidence that Dr. Ian Malcolm's (Jurassic Park) adage is correct: life will find a way.

Reference:

Chen, Min, et. al. "A Red-Shifted Chlorophyll." Science Magazine. 19 August 2010. Web. 21 August 2010. <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1191127>

Book Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:19:00 +0000

Book reviews will focus on topics related to exoplanets and astrobiology. These will mainly be non-fiction works, though I will also review the occasional pertinent work of science fiction.

The list of books to review is surprisingly longer than I had first expected. But I am happy that this topic is getting increased attention.

The first book reviewed will be Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI institute.

A Tour of the Exoplanets in Celestia

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:56:00 +0000

Celestia is a freeware program that

doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.

Some folk have written Celestia scripts which will show you what the night sky would look like from an exoplanet (including where in the sky is our sun). For example, Ian Musgrave of Australia has written a script that takes you on a tour of three exoplanets (including showing you what the night sky would look like in the direction of our sun). It can be found in his Astroblog: A Tour of the Exoplanets in Celestia post.

Interview with Jill Tarter, Director of the Center for SETI Research

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:03:00 +0000

Jill Tarter, Director of the Center for SETI Research, is trying to find an answer to a question people have asked forever: is there life on other planets?

A Galactic Biosphere?

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:53:00 +0000

My Brother/Sister, the Alien

In Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (a full review is forthcoming), Dr. Shostak, in his brief mention of panspermia as one possible way life originated on Earth, brings up an interesting point about panspermia:

Panspermia's importance would change if life could survive in rocks that travel not just between adjacent planets but between the stars. If interstellar infection is possible, just a few points of genesis - or even one - might conceivably seed the entire galaxy. So life's beginnings could be highly improbable, but life's distribution could be widespread. In essence, the "biosphere" would extend over light-years. (88)

Thus, if life originating on its own is rare, we can see a scenario where that life eventually spreads throughout the galaxy. We would all be members of the same galactic biosphere - brother and sister creatures in one galactic family

Another way life can spread from one genesis is seeding by an early alien sentient race. This is a notion used by some Hollywood writers. In many science fiction shows we often see humanoid aliens. One reason is that especially for early Hollywood, humanoid aliens were easier on the special effects budget, thus sometimes writers and producers explained the similarity among humans and aliens by using the idea of early race spreading their DNA throughout the galaxy. For instance, in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode (Season 6 episode "The Chase"), we discover there was an ancient race that seeded the galaxy (leaving clues in each "offspring's" DNA), thus explaining why so many alien races looked so similar. Why would sentient aliens purposefully seed the galaxy? It may be difficult to understand their motivations for sowing their seed amongst the stars, but some possibilities are:

as a means to continue their species / terraforming,
by accident,
as scientific experiments,
as the result of a religious decree (one purpose for life is to spread life, to join in on creation, e.g.) or
a combination of the above.

The Grand Diversity of Life

But even if the residents of the Milky Way are related, life, as we have seen on Earth, comes in a stunning array of diversity. From the deep sea, to deep mines, to hot springs, to tropical forests, to arid deserts, to perpetual frozen ice caps we find life in a myriad of forms. If we look into Earth's past via the fossil record, we find even more strange life forms. Extend this into space, onto other planets, and even if there is a common biosphere bound, the variety of expressions life can take will be mind boggling.

Or, My Half-Brother/Half-Sister, the Alien

In addition, even if life originating on its own is a rare occurrence, in a galaxy of hundreds of billions of stars (estimates run between 200 - 400 billion) and with even more planets (possibly a couple of trillion), there is the possibility that life has originated independently in at least a few places. There could be several galactic families. One wonders if primitive, slow metabolic germs from different origins land on the same planet, would there be a possibility that they could intermix, creating a hybrid life form.

Life in the (Extremely) Slow Lane

But back to the rare origin idea. Dr. Shostak is skeptical of this idea as this would involve million year rides on blasted (from a meteor impact), life-infected, rocks through the harsh vacuum of space. However, as I discussed in an earlier post, Panspermia, Long-Lived Bacteria, and Interstellar Distances, scientists have found microbes with very slow metabolisms that are over a hundred thousand years old living deep (as in miles deep - never seeing the light or fresh air of day) in rocks, and others that have survived lying dormant for a half a million years deep in permafrost. Some studies indicate some bacteria can live suspended in sediments, amber, and halite for millions of years.

So maybe there is a galactic biosphere. Aliens that come to realize this may develop philosophies and theologies that accepts all life on all planets around all stars in the galaxy as extended family.

One way to answer this question is to find life on another planet - even "just" microbial life. If we find that life originated more than once in the same solar system, it is a strong indicator that life originating on its own is not all that rare. It does not mean that panspermia is not an ancillary method, but that the galactic biosphere has gotten more complex and is, in fact, a large collection of individual (though not necessarily isolated) biospheres.

References:

Shostak, Seth. Confessions of An Alien Hunter. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2009.

Image credit: 1. "DNA" by Lynette Cook. 2. "Dark Matter" by Ryan Bliss, DigitalBlaphemy

An Alien Faith Passed On

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. David Michael Merchant) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:39:00 +0000

One fear people have of alien contact is how the proof of alien existence will affect our theologies; this includes how, beyond "just" their existence, alien theologies will affect our theologies.

One thought that popped in my head the other day was what if an alien race had in their theology that they, as a people, would corrupt and lose their true religion - their church would be without leadership, without a head, and that one day a new church leader would come, one who at first did not know they were appointed to be their leader, one who was from another race, one extrasolar and thus alien to them, who would come from the stars, learn their religion and lead their church. How would that affect us?

If their mythology predicted their church would become corrupt and they would lose all knowledge of the true religion and that someone from the heavens would come to show them the right way - that would be a call to action for many, if not most, of the churches on Earth to send missionaries and possibly fight over who would lead the aliens to the light (as Earthlings see it).

But in the first scenario - a human would need to go to the alien planet, learn their religion, and lead them. Would that cause the alien religion to be adopted by some people on Earth? Would they adopt it because it essentially elevates humans as saviors? Would they adopt it because it presents the promise of power? Would they adopt is because they have become cynical of Earth religions? Would they adopt it because they would feel accepted, part of something greater that they were not able to get, for whatever reasons (good or bad or imagined), in churches here on Earth?