Uranus, Sunlight, and Seasons

http://www.news.wisc.edu/15776

"New Images Yield Clues to Seasons of Uranus"

The atmospheres of distant planets like Uranus were previously impossible to study in detail until improvements in imaging technology, optics, and the large ground-based telescope Keck II. Now researchers are able to study the seasonal changes that influence astonishing weather conditions. The study also examines how the sun influences the planet's weather.

The study was conducted by Sromovsky and Pat Fry and William Ahue of UW-Madison, the study and Heidi B. Hammel of the Space Science Institute, Imke de Pater of UC-Berkeley, Kathy Rages and Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute, and Marcos van Dam of the Keck Observatory.

Sromovsky says the study is challenging because the seasons change so slowly and Uranus is so far away. Uranus has huge changes in the distribution of solar heating due to the extreme tilt, an unusually large 98 degrees from its orbit plane. During a year the poles of the planet get more sunlight that the equator. Seasons change so infrequently because Uranus has an 84 year orbit.

However, in 2007 Uranus reached its equinox, when the sun is directly over the equator and the little sunlight the planet gets is distributed evenly over the northern and summer hemispheres. The last time this happened scientists didn't have the technology to see any features of the planet, so this time gave scientists their best opportunity to study the seasonal dynamics of Uranus.

Uranus has a blue-green atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and methane and has a ring system. It also has some of the strangest cloud features in the outer solar system. Because the planet lacks a measurable internal heat source and the sun's warmth is 400 times less than it is at the Earth, parts of Uranus can reach below 360 degrees fahrenheit. This is why "Although both hemispheres were symmetrically heated by sunlight at equinox, the atmosphere itself was not symmetric, implying that it was responding to past sunlight instead if current sunlight, a result of Uranus's cold atmosphere and long response time," explains Sromovsky.

The most recent Keck II images show changes in the brightness of cloud bands in the planet's northern and southern hemispheres. Also, there are changes in the discrete cloud features; a massive vortex that had been oscillating in Uranus's southern hemisphere began drifting north and may soon dissipate. The new images showed Uranus' winds can achieve speeds of up to 560 miles per hour.

Some Interesting Exoplanets

In 1990 the first planets outside our solar system were discovered, and with the discovery of 51 pegasi b, the number of identified exosolar, or exoplanets, has soared to about 230. Some are stranger than others.

#10: The first exoplanet discovered is a hot jupiter also called Bellerphon after the constellation it's located in, known as 51 pegasi b.

#9: The closest exoplanet to our solar system is Epsilon Eridani b, orbiting a star only 10.5 ligh years from earth, orbits too far away to support liquid water. However, scientists predict there are other stars in the system that could support alien life.

#8: There are some planet-sized objects that have no sun at all and float untethered through space, called planemos. These are similar but smaller than brown dwarfs, which are failed stars too small to achieve stellar ignition.

#7: There are some exoplanets that orbit their parent stars so closely that their orbits last less than a day called ultra-short-period planets. One example is SWEEPS-10.

#6: One of the largest temperature differences astronomers have ever seen on an exoplanet occurs on Upsilon Andromeda b, which is tidally locked to its sun so one side of the planet is always facing its star. One side of the planet is hot as lava while the other is chilled below freezing.

#5: The youngest exoplanet discovered is less than one million years old and orbits Coku Tau 4, which is a star 420 light-years away.

#4: The oldest exoplanet discovered is 12.7 billion years old, more than 8 billion years before Earth and only 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery of this planet raised the possibility that life began far sooner than scientists had imagined.

#3: The planet HD209458b has a year only 3.5 Earth-days long because the planet orbits so close to its star that at least 10 thousand tons of material is being blown away by stellar wind every second.

#2: One of the first planets to have its light analyzed, or sniffed, HD 189733b's atmosphere contains thick clouds of particles similar to grains of sand, but scientists suspect there might be water vapor hidden beneath the clouds.

#1: The smallest exoplanet ever detected is also the first to lie within the habitable zone of its parent star, raising the possibility that the surface might sustain liquid water and even life. It is called Gliese 581 C.

All in all, these exoplanets are remarkable discoveries that are slowly giving scientists more and more clues as to where to search for extraterrestrial life.

How William Borucki Launched the Kepler Mission

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/090625-seti-kepler-borucki.html

"The Exoplanet Sleuth Behind NASA's Kepler Mission"

Bill Borucki is the man behind NASA's decision to build and launch the first spacecraft capable of finding Earth-size planets orbiting other stars, Kepler. Of course Borucki was part of a team of scientists, computer scientists, engineers, and educators at the SETI Institute; however, he was the man steering the Kepler mission through navigating the maze of changing requirements, reallocated funding, technical issues, and political challenges.

Borucki grew up in Delevan, Wiscosin as a budding young scientist- he was president of the school's science club- and progressed from there. After earning both a B.S. and M.S. in physics, Borucki applied and earned his dream job at NASA. Then he worked at the Theoretical Studies Branch where they studied the atmospheres of Earth and other planets and built theoretical models of the atmosphere to understand how mankind's influence would change it. His interests emerged and he wrote two papers on his thinking about how photometry and spectrometry could be used to find other planets.

Finally, in 2000 he proposed a planet-finding mission to NASA, in response to a call for Discovery mission proposals, and the Kepler Mission was selected as the 10th Discovery Mission in December 2001. Although the mission encountered plenty of obstacles before finally launching, Bill Borucki and his team worked together to overcome them and successfully embark on a mission that could change our view of our world (and others) as we know it.

Some Strange Things in Space

http://www.space.com/bestimg/?guid=4499b37d6b914&cat=strangest

"Top 10 Strangest Things in Space"

There are many exceptionally astonishing things going on in the universe around us. One such phenomenon are quasars; bright beacons at the edge of the universe which release more energy than hundreds of galaxies combined. Scientists believe these are black holes in distant galaxies.

In space, although we tend to think empty space is simply empty, it is in fact countless 'virtual' subatomic particles that are constantly being created and destroyed. The short-lived particles fill the space with energy which creates an anti-gravitational force that pushes space apart.

Distortions in space-time predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity are known as gravity waves. These waves travel at the speed of light, but can only be detected by scientists when large cosmic events take place because otherwise they are too weak.

Discovered in space were strange particles that are opposite versions of particles making up normal matter, called anti-matter. For example, an electron has an anti-matter equivalent called a positron, which is opposite the electron by being positive. When normal and anti- matter meet their mass is converted into pure energy (E=mc2). Futuristic space ship designs incorporate anti-matter engines.

All in all, there are many strange things in space, some proven some not, that are slowly providing clues to the questions we pose as we seek for others like ourselves in the universe.

Switch to Digital TV Excludes Aliens from Viewing

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/090618-seti-aliens.html

"Aliens Lose in Switch to Digital TV"

Television signals as well as FM radio and radar have served as humans probing into deep space ever since World War II. A lot of people don't believe its possible for extraterrestrials to pick up on television, whether it be analog or digital, because the broadcasts would fade away long before they reached even the nearest star because every doubling of distance causes a four-fold reduction in intensity. But the massive switch to DTV has many others believing signals aliens used to be able to pick up will be replaced with smoother DTV. Radio technology is very sensitive though, and with large antennas it is possible to detect faint radio static from distant corners of the universe. Radio static from analog television is a lot of energy concentrated in a small range of frequencies which create spikes; aliens could find this emission and although they wouldn't have TV picture and sound they would know we were on the air.

However, DTV creates a smooth, low hiss, and television broadcast no longer emits a spike in frequencies that are detectable light-years away. On the other hand, the most powerful signals from our planet are radar transmissions such as the Arecibo telescope, which can be detected with a similarly sized antenna nearly one thousand light-years away. All in all, although its possible aliens will be cut off from being able to detect television broadcasts from earth, other frequencies will still be out there to catch their attention.

Tropical Storms on Saturn's Moon

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090812-titan-clouds.html

"Tropical Storm Spotted on Saturn's Moon Titan"

Saturn's Moon Titan has a climate resembling that of Earth, but instead of a water cycle, Titan has a methane cycle. Clouds, rains and lakes all exist on Titan, but they are all made of methane. This is because the moon is so cold any water is frozen into rock-hard ice. Last summer, astronomers observed something very startling: a tropical storm.

This is not supposed to be there, according to the models that predicted that the equatorial region should be very dry and should not support cloud formation. While clouds of vaporized methane are not uncommon on Titan, though they have never before been observed in Titan's tropics. Scientists suspect the storm's trigger may have been some kind of geologic activity on the moon's surface, such as a geyser or new mountain range forming, or atmospheric effects.

This development simply furthers the fascination of Titan; the processes are nearly identical to Earth's, but with alien materials. As Saturn's 30-year-long orbit plays out a full rotation of seasons on the moon, scientists hope that by having telescopes trained on the moon and the every-six weekly view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft they will be able to learn a lot more.

New Equation for Habitable Planets&Primitive Life

Scientists have recently been attempting to come up with an equation to "quantify how suitable other planets are for life."

The equation is reminiscent of the Drake Equation, which judges the chances of contacting extraterrestrial civilizations., as it contains many variables that must be debated on.

The hard part is finding what variables are required, and which ones describe qualities of our Earth that aren't necessarily required to sustain intelligent life.
As a senior astronomer from SETI claims, "There's no definition of life that really works very well. Even if you were able to define life as we know it, you might be missing out on life as we don't know it."


The article ends with the message that its definitely very likely that we'll find primitive life on planets with at least semi-habitable atmospheres, the problem is figuring out what it takes to get from life to intelligent life.

Us or the Androids: Who Gets the Glory?

This article is a little older, but I found it pretty interesting, and relevant too.

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/090115-seti-spacefaring-humanity.html

It opens with statements seeming to convey that Earth's destiny lay in the stars. Whether from internal conflict or resources, the author believes that humanity "can't stay in the cradle forever".

The article goes on to state that colonization of our solar system is definitely feasible, stating that it would take us less than a decade to get to Neptune.

However, its also later stated that the subsequent settling of planets from other systems and galaxies would be significantly harder: it would take around 75,000 years to travel to the nearest star system , Alpha Centauri.

Thus the solution is probes. with cameras.

Unfortunately, camera and remote technology has been improving at a much faster rate than our rocket technology, with the article stating that "In other words, in seven decades our rockets sped up by a factor of ten, but in little more than half that time our cameras improved by a factor of five thousand. There's no comparison: probe technology is marching to the beat of a faster drummer."

Probes have always offered the advantage of lower cost and minimal risk. For interstellar travel, their smaller size makes them especially practical. For the same energy bill, you could propel a one-ton reconnaissance craft to another star in one-tenth the time of sending even a small clutch of humans

Dislodging the Three Most Common SETI Myths

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_three_myths_060622.html

"Just the Facts: Three SETI Myths"

Widely subscribed to myths about SETI are a paramount reason that SETI has had to fight so hard for funding and support. Due to misleading media coverage, such as "SETI is using millions of personal computers" or "SETI opened a new search for laser signals" and movie portrayals there is the myth that that there is an organization called simply, "SETI" that coordinates and controls all SETI work around the world, and some people even believe it semi-secret, US government organization.

Another common myth about SETI is that all radio telescopes are doing SETI work, all the time. However, this is far from the truth, which is that SETI hardly is constantly probing the universe for aliens. In fact, SETI's Project Phoenix used about 5% of the time at the Arecibo Observatory...and it was the largest allocation for a single project at Arecibo. Obviously, a much smaller percentage of radio telescopes are used by SETI than people are prone to think.

Finally, there is the belief most detrimental to the SETI cause: that SETI has been listening for nearly fifty years and hasn't discovered ET, so SETI is a failure. This would imply that SETI is always tuned in to the universe and that this is as constant as humans hearing. However, In the first of "listening," twenty-three targeted radio SETI projects conducted a total of ninety days of searching. The vast majority of the roughly 100 projects were very limited in frequency coverage, directions searched, and/or sensitivity. If you consider the number of stars (or sky positions) observed and the number of frequency channels searched at high sensitivity, only two projects have done a significant amount of searching.

These widely believed falsehoods surrounding SETI and general scientific ignorance (many people imagine searching for aliens to be a bit less complicated than it actually is) are the main obstacles SETI now faces in search of renewed support and funds.

Kepler Mission Carries Messages from Earth

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/091001-seti-kepler-names.html

"Messages from Earth Ride on Planet Hunting Space Craft"

The Kepler spacecraft consists of two main parts: one, instruments to detect other worlds, and two, a DVD attached to the spacecraft consisting of messages submitted by tens of thousands of people on why they thought the Kepler mission is important.

Many messages focused on Kepler's scientific objectives, which coincide with the exploration of humanity's deepest questions. Questions such as "are there other worlds out there like our own? and if so, are there other entities who may be seeking knowledge of us? Others say the Kepler mission is a result of humanity's natural and instinctive curiosity, and a manifestation of a need to reach out into space. Others believe that by searching outside our own world, we are given a larger sense of our place and size in the universe and therefore more appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of Earth. Another group of people such as Christina Aas of Norway emphasized that by searching for other life forms we might learn more about ourselves in the process and hopefully that despite whatever conflicts exist between people, on the whole we are all the same.

All in all, whether or not the Kepler mission reveals many terrestrial-style planets (which it is hypothesized is more likely than not) it is an important mission in space exploration for humanity.

First Images from Kepler Mission

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090416-kepler-first-images.html

"Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Beams Home First Images"

The $600 million Kepler spacecraft was launched last month to try and look through million of targets for about 100 thousand stars that may have Earth-sized planets around them. Kepler does this by using a 95-megapixel camera to cast an "unblinking stare at its target star field". This camera is so sensitive it will be able to record the blip of light created by a planet as it crosses infront of its parent star. These images will act as road maps that will in a few years help us to select a star and be able to tell if a world like ours is there.

The first views of Kepler encompass an estimated 14 million stars between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra; one view includes a cluster of stars known at NGC 6791 about 13 thousand light-years from Earth and other includes a star called Tres-2, known to have a Jupiter-like planet close by. All in all, these images are an important step forward for SETI to be able to determine which planets, if any, have the conditions that would allow for extraterrestrial life to lurk on them.

Possible Transmission Pathways to Communicate with Aliens

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/090924-seti-weird-ways.html

"Weird Ways to Search for ET"

Despite popular view that SETI and its scientists eschew new ideas of ways of communicating with extraterrestrial life, there are many new ideas circulating--although they are sometimes considered a little 'out of this world'.

Some these include but are not limited to:

1) Neutrinos, which are ghostly particles which can go through planets; only problem is they cost a tremendous amount of energy to produce and technology to detect them has very low efficiency.

2) Quantum entanglement, which could an be inexpensive and instantaneous communication channel through entangled particles; however, Bell's theorem illustrates that they're not instruments for faster-than-light communication.

3) Gravity waves, which like neutrinos are hard to produce and detect.

4) Flashes of laser lights every month or year or decade.

5) Signals Kepler could detect; following the idea that aliens could construct large structures and sling them into orbit around their sun--anyone observing stars using techniques similar to that of the Kepler telescope could notice these light blockers.

However, none of these possible methods of transmissions are being explored by SETI at the moment; although this doesn't mean they aren't being explored by physicists and others.

Devising Habitability Index for Planets

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/16/2072217.aspx

"A New Equation for Life"

Astrobiologists Hagermann and Cockell are currently working on devising a mathematical equation that would create a single indicator "that combines all the factors thought to make life as we know it possible". Based on studies of life's development on Earth, scientists generally list three factors that indicate life: the presence of liquid water, chemical compounds that can be combined in organic reactions, and an energy source to fuel those reactions. If you knew a system had planets with bodies of water on them, that would be a habitability index of 1."
However, the problem of creating a habitability index is getting more and more complicated, because the more researchers learn the harder it is to draw the line between habitable and non-inhabitable zones. Also, no definitions of life work very well, and the conditions and allowed life to evolve on this planet don't necessarily have to match conditions that could very well create life on other planets. Although this mathematical equation may not be even close to 100% accurate when predicting the possibility of life in other systems and planets, it causes scientists to look more deeply into where life comes from and where we might find intelligent life elsewhere in our universe. First we have to learn more about the planets before we can give them a habitability index.

Non-Human Intelligence on Earth: The Honey Bee

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/090827-seti-bees-navigation.html

"Bee Celestial Navigation and Non-Human Intelligence"

What could the study of honey bees possibly have to do with the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence? Well, bees are a species on our very own planet which have the three main requirements for producing extraterrestrail communications. These are a communication system, advanced tool use, and astronomy; bees can demonstrate non-human skills in all three.

Bees demonstrate astronomy by polarizing light to see the Sun on a cloudy day, by knowing where the Sun is even after it sets and therefore can still forage during a full moon, and how they can understand landscape as a map and don't need to retrace the same route back to the hive which they took to leave.

Bees also have been discovered to demonstrate communication. To date, bees are in fact the only other species that have been shown to communicate with symbolic language--in this case through dance--which allows them to 'talk' about something that is not present. So far we know of three languages bees use: the DVAV Dance for discussing hive politics, the Round Dance which tells the other bees to go out and sniff around for the source of pollen that is close, and the Waggle Dance that is done when nectar is discovered far away and the bee discusses with the hive where to go.

There was even a university study done in which bees exhibited the ability to correctly locate where nectar was going to be placed next, which shows they can do math (to determine how far away the nectar location moved each day) and imagination (the ability to imagine the future of where the nectar would be outside the present). Clearly, bees are an extremely intelligent species coexisting and effectually perpetuating human life on this planet (without bees humans would only last 3 or 4 years as our food supply would disappear). All in all, we will be more prepared when looking for intelligent life on other planets when we learn more from bees and other species on Earth.