Astrobiology - Blog Posts
Spectroscopic Observations of The Atmospheres and possibly even The Surfaces of Extrasolar Planets and Extrasolar Satellites.
ESA’s next science mission to focus on nature of exoplanets
The nature of planets orbiting stars in other systems will be the focus for ESA’s fourth medium-class science mission, to be launched in mid 2028.
Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote‐sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large‐survey mission, was selected by ESA today as part of its Cosmic Vision plan.
The mission addresses one of the key themes of Cosmic Vision: What are the conditions for planet formation and the emergence of life?
Thousands of exoplanets have already been discovered with a huge range of masses, sizes and orbits, but there is no apparent pattern linking these characteristics to the nature of the parent star. In particular, there is a gap in our knowledge of how the planet’s chemistry is linked to the environment where it formed, or whether the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s evolution.
Ariel will address fundamental questions on what exoplanets are made of and how planetary systems form and evolve by investigating the atmospheres of hundreds of planets orbiting different types of stars, enabling the diversity of properties of both individual planets as well as within populations to be assessed.
Observations of these worlds will give insights into the early stages of planetary and atmospheric formation, and their subsequent evolution, in turn contributing to put our own Solar System in context.
“Ariel is a logical next step in exoplanet science, allowing us to progress on key science questions regarding their formation and evolution, while also helping us to understand Earth’s place in the Universe,” says Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science.
“Ariel will allow European scientists to maintain competitiveness in this dynamic field. It will build on the experiences and knowledge gained from previous exoplanet missions.”
The mission will focus on warm and hot planets, ranging from super-Earths to gas giants orbiting close to their parent stars, taking advantage of their well-mixed atmospheres to decipher their bulk composition.
Ariel will measure the chemical fingerprints of the atmospheres as the planet crosses in front of its host star, observing the amount of dimming at a precision level of 10–100 parts per million relative to the star.
As well as detecting signs of well-known ingredients such as water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane, it will also be able to measure more exotic metallic compounds, putting the planet in context of the chemical environment of the host star.
For a select number of planets, Ariel will also perform a deep survey of their cloud systems and study seasonal and daily atmospheric variations.
Ariel’s metre-class telescope will operate at visible and infrared wavelengths. It will be launched on ESA’s new Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou in mid 2028. It will operate from an orbit around the second Lagrange point, L2, 1.5 million kilometres directly ‘behind’ Earth as viewed from the Sun, on an initial four-year mission.
Following its selection by ESA’s Science Programme Committee, the mission will continue into another round of detailed mission study to define the satellite’s design. This would lead to the ‘adoption’ of the mission – presently planned for 2020 – following which an industrial contractor will be selected to build it.
Ariel was chosen from three candidates, competing against the space plasma physics mission Thor (Turbulence Heating ObserveR) and the high-energy astrophysics mission Xipe (X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer).
Solar Orbiter, Euclid and Plato have already been selected as medium-class missions.
ESPRESSO Sees it’s First Light.
ESPRESSO is a New Planet Hunting Telescope at The European Southern Observatory.
The Science of Photosynthetic Lifeforms on Habitable Zone Worlds in other solar_systems.
The Photosynthetic Colors of Alien Lifeforms on Habitable Worlds in other solar_systems.
Three planets with sizes and temperatures akin to those of the Earth and Venus are circling a dwarf star 40 light-years away. The star in question, named TRAPPIST-1 after the telescope used to observe it, is weaker and cooler than the Sun at the heart of our solar system. "With such short orbital
One interesting way for Astronomers to search for Extra_Solar Civilizations and/or Extra_Solar Alien_Technology is to search for Chemical Signatures of Advanced Alien_Technology like:
Chlorofluorocarbons.
(via For plants on alien worlds, it isn't easy being green - space - 11 April 2007 - New Scientist)
Let’s just talk about how much I love space... and my Nikon. 1/12/2018
Extraterrestrial Life May Be Closer Than We Think
Just when we think we have the universe somewhat figured out, it throws us a massive curveball from our very own backyard. Hold on to your telescopes, everyone, because one of our own planetary neighbors right around the corner may have the right conditions for extraterrestrial life.
On April 14, a paper published in Science Mag pointed out biochemical signatures of hydrogen production in the hydrothermal reactions in the form of plumes that erupt from the ice surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. Molecular hydrogen is one of the building blocks of life because it is the ideal food source for microbes and bacteria, which are at the forefront of every food and energy chain (at least on Earth). This implies that the ocean beneath the ice has enough chemical activity and organic matter to maintain the right conditions to sustain life, at least on the molecular level. This kind of chemistry can indicate habitable zones in Enceladus’ ocean.
To provide a bit of a context from here on Earth: our own oceans contain deep-sea hydrothermal vents that are home to complex and important ecosystems that allow microorganisms to live and grow by using energy from the minerals produced by these vents. These microorganisms are necessary for food and energy chains to form since larger organisms feed on these microorganisms and create entire ecological communities. Many scientists have pointed out these kinds of superheated environments as prime locations for life to begin.
But having the right conditions for life doesn’t mean already harboring life. There is still a lot that we don’t know about what’s going on below the surface of Enceladus. While scientists have known about its ocean since 2005, it is only now that technology has improved to the point where it can pick up sensitive biochemical signatures and provide a more detailed picture of Saturn’s icy moon.
Recently, NASA has announced a mission called Europa Clipper that will explore Europa, another one of Jupiter’s icy moons with an ocean. It will launch sometime in the 2020s. Perhaps NASA will consider stopping by Enceladus...who knows what we can find there?
Hope for Life on Trappist-1 is a Little Too Bright for Comfort
Bad news, everyone: Trappist-1 may not be the extraterrestrial paradise we thought it would be. On March 29, 2017, a new study was released from the Konkoly Observatory in Hungary that analyzed photometric data on Trappist-1 which was collected by NASA’s K2 mission.
The study suggested that the host star of the Trappist-1 system produces too many powerful solar flares to allow its planets to host and sustain life. Data pointed out 42 high-energy flares that occurred over an 80-day period, 5 of which were “multi-peaked” which means they gave off multiple bursts of energy in one instance. The average time between these flares was 28 hours.
To provide a comparison to understand the magnitude of the solar flares -- the strongest flare on Trappist-1 is equivalent in release of energy to our own Carrington Event of 1859, which would destroy global communications if it happened today. During the Event, the flare sent powerful electrical surges through telegraph lines and produced tropical aurorae so bright, they woke up Rocky Mountain gold miners in the middle of the night because they thought it was morning.
Now, some people might say, “But Earth has managed to survive powerful solar flares in the past. Why can’t Trappist-1 do the same?”
Well, there may be a few reasons why Trappist-1 may no longer be the place to sustain life:
1) Our wonderful Earth has in place a magnetic field that protects us from the worst effects of our host star’s stellar magnetic outbursts, but it is not yet known whether or not the Trappist-1 planets have this same defensive capability.
2) Both the frequency and magnitude of Trappist-1′s solar flares may prohibit its planets from even recovering from previous flares. According to this study done a year ago, it would take 30,000 years for a planet’s atmosphere to recover from just one of a high-intensity flare. Solar flares are occurring every 28 hours on Trappist-1. Logic, then, points out that there is a very small chance of life being possible on any of Trappist-1′s planets.
3) Trappist-1′s planets are very, very close to their Sun -- much closer than we are to our own. This means that the near-constant flaring would likely destroy any chance of stability in the planets’ atmospheres, unless (on the small chance) they somehow have incredibly powerful magnetospheres.
This is definitely disappointing news. I think many people (myself included) had a lot of hope riding on Trappist-1 for the possibility of sustaining life and being a true sister solar system to our own.
But not all hope is lost! There’s still a lot that we can’t confirm about this mysterious and volatile solar system. Scientists are relying on the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope to probe Trappist-1 and give us a more detailed look on what’s going on in that side of the universe. The telescope will launch in 2018, so don’t give up on Trappist-1 just yet! A lot can happen in one year.
Meet Our 7 Newest Planetary Neighbors
On Wednesday, February 22, NASA took the whole world by storm when they announced the incredible discovery of 7 Earth-sized exoplanets – all of which could potentially have the right conditions for life to exist!
While there has been a relatively continuous stream of newly found exoplanets in the past years, this exoplanet system, named TRAPPIST-1 for the Chile-based telescope that first discovered the planets back in May, is particularly special because of three main reasons:
1.) They are considered relatively close (40 light years/235 trillion miles) to Earth.
2.) They are the first known system of Earth-sized planets that orbit a single parent star, with 3 planets located in the “Goldilocks zone”, the astrophysical orbit that has just the right conditions for allowing liquid water, and by extension, life, to exist. While all 7 could have liquid water, these 3 have the highest chances.
3.) Their parent star, an ultra-cool dwarf, has temperatures so low that liquid water can exist on the planets closest to it; what’s more, the planets are so incredibly close to their parent star – all 7 are closer to their parent star than Mercury is to our own Sun – that someone standing on the surface of each planet could potentially see the physical features of the other planets.
The implications of this find is mind-blowing: at the moment, Earth is the only planet we know that exists with liquid water in our solar system’s Goldilocks zone. We have no other suitable planet we can use for comparison, which is why the search for life in outer space can seem futile. But this discovery of 7 whole Earth-sized planets with the right conditions for water and life to flourish sparks the age-old question into overdrive – are we alone in the universe or not?
Earth is no longer the potentially only life-sustaining planet; we have 7 exoplanets, 3 in the Goldilocks zone, that can harbor water and life. That just blows my mind, and while I have often lamented in the past that I was born too late for traveling the world and too early for exploring space, I am grateful to be alive in this time of immense space-science discovery.
But what next? We’ve discovered this new system, what are we going to do about it? According to NASA, a new telescope called the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched in 2018. Equipped with state-of-the-art technological capabilities such as increased sensitivity sensors, it will be able to detect chemical signals present in a planet’s atmosphere such as methane, oxygen, and water. And hopefully, it will tell us more about our 7 new neighbors – and what could be on them.
The mystery of the extinction of the dinosaurs
I thing that one on the big mysteries is that all dinosaur remains have been petrified or as the main stream science call it mineralized but actually they turned to gem stones. but the bigger mystery is why didn’t other species like extinct mummles like mammoth and wales get mineralized in the same way? I think that the petrification is directly connected to the extinction it self. A swift cosmic force turned the fluids inside the bones to quartz but the other species were not exposed to the same force.
I think that all extinction theories should be reconsidered.
Read more:
https://www.geologyin.com/2018/12/gemstone-turns-out-to-be-fossil-of.html?fbclid=IwAR1LRPp9-565gw6dawCAT41XCevy8dPBQ1xn7N9UWUAbtmhYsoHuLbC1j0s
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/science/exclusive-gem-like-fossils-reveal-stunning-new-dinosaur-species.aspx
Curious about NASA’s next mission to the Red Planet – the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover? Here’s your chance to ask an expert!
Targeted for launch to the Red Planet in July 2020, our Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will search for signs of ancient life. Mission engineer Lauren DuCharme and astrobiologist Sarah Stewart Johnson will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Friday, July 17 from noon to 1pm ET here on our Tumblr! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask
Lauren DuCharme is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, where she’s working on the launch and cruise of the Perseverance rover. Lauren got her start at JPL as an intern. Professor Sarah Stewart Johnson is an astrobiologist at Georgetown University in Washington. Her research focuses on detecting biosignatures, or traces of life, in planetary environments.
Fun Facts:
The name Perseverance was chosen from among the 28,000 essays submitted during the “Name the Rover” contest. Seventh-grader Alex Mather wrote in his winning essay, “We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere. We, not as a nation but as humans, will not give up.”
Perseverance will land in Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer-wide) crater that scientists believe was once filled with water.
Perseverance carries instruments and technology that will pave the way for future human missions to the Moon and Mars. It is also carrying 23 cameras and two microphones to the Red Planet — the most ever flown in the history of deep-space exploration.
Perseverance is the first leg of a round trip to Mars. It will be the first rover to bring a sample caching system to Mars that will package promising samples for return to Earth by a future mission.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.