^TagExoplanets

Exoplanets or Extrasolar planets with stars on background nebula, 3D illustration

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post

Author
News
Date
January 14, 2023

Tagged
Albert Einstein, Brett Tingley, Daniel Clery, Elizabeth Rayne, Enceladus, Evan Gough, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial life, Fine-tuning of universe for life, Kurt Gödel, Laurence Tognetti, LHS 475b, Low entropy, Matt Williams, Opals on Mars, Paul Sutter, Pluto, Roger Penrose, Scott Alan Johnston, Steve Meyer, Time travel, Tissint, UFOs}

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 18

_{We are starting to find more different kinds of exoplanets and an unexpected source of water on Mars} _{News

January 14, 2023

7}

In our universe: Time travel? “How a Rotating Universe Makes Time Travel Possible” At Universe Today, Stony Brook astrophysicist Paul Sutter notes that mathematical philosopher Kurt Gödel (1906–1978) wrote a model for Albert Einstein (1879–1955) of a universe that allows time travel into the past: “Gödel constructed a relatively simple and artificial model universe to prove his point. This universe is rotating and contains only one ingredient. That ingredient is a negative cosmological constant that resists the centrifugal force of the rotation to keep the universe static. / Gödel found that if you follow a particular path in this rotating universe you can end up in your own past. ” (January 11, 2023) Our universe, as it happens, is not Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
January 7, 2023

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
16 Psyche, Andy Tomaswick, Asteroid space colonies, Charles Q. Choi, Danuri, David Kipping, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial life, Fine-tuning of universe for life, Io (moon of Jupiter), James Jee, Mars winter, Matt Williams, Milky Way, Moon water, Paul Sutter on ET, Richard Vincent, Steve Meyere, Universe characteristics, universe fine tuning}

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 17

_{Interest in moon exploration and bases is growing and it turns out there is more water there (carried by the solar wind) than thought} _{News

January 7, 2023

9

Physics}

In our universe: We’re always learning new things now. The universe “has 2−3× more light than expected from the integrated light from galaxies” “According to new measurements by New Horizons, the light coming from stars beyond the Milky Way is two to three times brighter than the light from known populations of galaxies – meaning that there are even more out there than we thought! – Matt Williams, Universe Today, (December 24, 2022) The paper is open access. While we’re here, rogue stars may be even older than we thought: “”We don’t exactly know what made them homeless. Current theories cannot explain our results, but somehow they were produced in large quantities in the early universe,” James Jee, an astronomer Read More ›

Planets and exoplanets of unexplored galaxies. Sci-Fi. New worlds to discover. Colonization and exploration of nebulae and galaxies

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post

Author
News
Date
December 24, 2022

Tagged
Alejandro Suárez Mascareño, Andy Tomaswick, Björn Benneke, Bob Holdom, Cosmic instability, Dark photons, Evan Gough, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial life, Fine-tuning of universe for life, GJ 1002, Habitable zone, Karst caves, Kepler-138c, Kepler-138d, Moon lava tubes, Oxygen on Mars, Paul Sutter, Return of the God Hypothesis (book), Robert Lea, Sharmila Kuthunur, Stephen C. Meyer, Tibi Puiu, Water worlds}

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 15

_{Recent news features Earth-like planets and water worlds — and how comet impacts may be providing Europa’s oceans with material} _{News

December 24, 2022

8}

In our universe: Here are the James Webb Space Telescope’s best images from a spectacular year first year (it launched December 25, 2021). Could there be such a thing as “dark light?” Science writer Tibi Puiu tells us at ZME Science that some physicists think that the mysterious dark matter of the universe is made out of dark photons: “A new study found that hypothetical particles called dark photons can explain discrepencies in the ‘cosmic web’.” (December 14, 2022) “First introduced in 1986 by physicist Bob Holdom, dark photons, also known as ‘heavy photons’ or ‘hidden photons’, are supposed to be gauge bosons for dark matter. Dark photons and regular photons are expected to mix, such that the dark photons Read More ›

2 UAPS / Ufos in the night sky at a beach. UFO UAP Sighting at night

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post

Author
News
Date
August 6, 2022

Categorized
Biology

Tagged
Exoplanets, Exoplanets (life on exoplanets), Exoplanets (refining search for life), Extraterrestrial life, NASA on UFOs, Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), Unidentified aerial phenomena as earthly surveillance, Unidentified flying objects (UFOs)}

NASA on UFOs: Not Nearly So Snarky Now. Here Are 3 Reasons Why

_{In the three decades since the discovery of the first exoplanets, science has gradually been overtaking science fiction} _{News

August 6, 2022

4

Biology}

As noted recently at Scientific American, thinking about UFOs is no longer presumptive evidence of membership in the lunatic fringe: On June 9, with only a few hours’ notice, NASA held a press conference to announce a study it was commissioning on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). The acronym is a rebranding of what are more popularly known as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, a topic usually associated with purported extraterrestrial visitations and government conspiracy theories. The question on the public’s mind was why one of the U.S.’s premier scientific agencies was getting involved in something often considered to be at the farthest fringes of respectability. Adam Mann, “With New Study, NASA Seeks the Science behind UFOs” at Scientific American (August Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
July 16, 2022

Tagged
Cold planets, Cold super-Earths, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial life, Helium, Hydrogen, James Webb Space Telescope, Jupiter and moons}

Some Cold Giant Planets May Be Habitable, Researchers Say

_{Life could exist outside the expected habitable zone if a massive planet can hang onto insulating gases in its atmosphere} _{News

July 16, 2022

4}

Rocky exoplanets with an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium gases could have liquid water on the surface, like Jupiter’s moon Europa, and could thus host life. The question is whether the surface water sticks around long on “cold super-Earths,” that are ten times the mass of our planet: Now, new calculations described in a paper published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy suggest that the surface conditions of these worlds could have been temperate for more than enough time for life—for 5 billion to 8 billion years. Earth is only about 4.5 billion years old, by comparison, and life emerged here about 3.7 billion years ago. Eva Botkin-Kowacki, “We may be underestimating how many cold, giant planets are habitable” at Read More ›

Extremely detailed and realistic high resolution 3D image of an Exoplanet. Shot from space. Elements of this image are furnished by Nasa.

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post

Author
News
Date
February 26, 2022

Categorized
Biology, Science

Tagged
Chris Hadfield, Exoplanets, James Webb Telescope, Kepler-442b, Tidally locked planets (iris concept), Victor Tangermann}

Former Astronaut Names Planet He Thinks Most Likely To Have Life

_{Researchers now seek to narrow down the list of exoplanets for the James Webb Space Telescope to research from thousands to dozens, to avoid wasting time} _{News

February 26, 2022

3

Biology, Science}

Former astronaut Chris Hadfield, with nearly 5000 known exoplanets to choose from, names Kepler-442b, 1200 light years from Earth, as an “excellent” one for the James Webb Space Telescope to have a look at: An excellent planet for @NASAWebb to have a look at. https://t.co/AutXPXInJW — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 19, 2022 At Futurism, Victor Tangermann explains that researchers now week to narrow down the list of exoplanets from thousands to dozens, to avoid wasting space telescope time: In a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal in 2015, a team of astrobiologists argued that several exoplanets identified by NASA’s Kepler and K2 missions, including Kepler-442b, were highly likely to possess liquid surface water, like Earth. “We ranked the known Kepler Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
October 30, 2021

Categorized
Information Theory, Science

Tagged
Adam Frank, Avi Loeb (life on exoplanets), Biosignatures (on exoplanets), BLCI (radio signal), Corey S. Powell, Exoplanets, Jill Tarter, NASA (funding ET research), Nature journal (on search for ET life), Radio signals (search for ET), Technosignatures (on exoplanets)}

How Exoplanets Have Made the Search for ET Respectable

_{Recent years have seen a marked change from official skepticism to official curiosity, which includes more generous funding for the search} _{News

October 30, 2021

5

Information Theory, Science}

Exoplanets were first confirmed in 1992. Before that, it was easy to simply mock the search for the flying saucers and the little green men. After that, the obvious question became: If planets, why not habitable planets? If inhabited, why not by intelligent life forms? It was the naysayers who had more to prove. More recently, astrobiologists looking for signals from intelligent extraterrestrials (technosignatures) have started to doubt that the old standby, radio, is the best choice, as science writer Corey S. Powell reports, ‘I was never a big fan of what might be called “beacon SETI”,’ the astrophysicist Adam Frank from the University of Rochester tells me. ‘The idea is that you’re waiting for somebody to send you a Read More ›

collection of alien planets in front of the Milky Way galaxy, nearby exoplanets

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post

Author
News
Date
October 16, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Copernican Principle, Earth (as insignificant), Exoplanets, Giant Magellan Telescope, James Webb Telescope, Marcelo Gleiser}

Physicist: Copernican Principle Doesn’t Make Earth Insignificant

_{That, Marcelo Gleiser says, is a philosophical attitude, unrelated to the science} _{News

October 16, 2021

4

Philosophy, Science}

Theoretical physicist Marcelo Gleiser, author of The Island of Knowledge (2014) offers some thoughts on what the Copernican Principle means and doesn’t mean about Earth’s status as a planet — whether Earth is a special place or a pale blue dot. He has no objection to the Copernican Principle (“a cornerstone of astronomy”) as such. The problem, he points out, is what happened next: Copernicus famously proposed that Earth was not the center of the universe; the sun was. The Earth, he suggested, was just another planet orbiting the sun like Mars or Jupiter… The principle, as understood today, is usually stated as, “Earth is an ordinary planet, and we, human observers, are ordinary too.” There is nothing special about Read More ›

Neptune Planet Solar System space isolated

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post

Author
News
Date
September 18, 2021

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Cold planets, Exoplanets, Galactic bulge}

Researchers: There Are Cold Planets Throughout Our Galaxy

_{They report that there are even cold planets in the Galactic bulge, where it was not certain they would exist} _{News

September 18, 2021

4

Science}

Researchers from Osaka University, using gravitational microlensing, have determined that there are cold planets throughout our galaxy. Cold planets would have average temperatures below the freezing point. The results show that the planetary distribution is not strongly dependent on the distance from the Galactic center. Instead, cold planets orbiting far from their stars seem to exist universally in the Milky Way. This includes the Galactic bulge, which has a very different environment to the solar neighborhood, and where the presence of planets has long been uncertain. “Stars in the bulge region are older and are located much closer to each other than stars in the solar neighborhood,” explains lead author of the study Naoki Koshimoto. “Our finding that planets reside Read More ›

Venus against the background of the sun. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

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post

Author
News
Date
August 28, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Carl Sagan, Carl Sagan Institute, Earth (as fine-tuned for life), Exoplanets, Fine-tuning (Earth for life), Jaimie Green, Lisa Kaltenegger, Pale Blue Dot concept}

Carl Sagan Institute: Who Can See Us From Outer Space?

_{Most exoplanets are spotted when they dim a star’s light while crossing it. Earth does the same thing} _{News

August 28, 2021

8

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

We’ve all heard of astronomer Carl Sagan’s pale blue dot (Earth from a billion miles away, 1990). But Jaimie Green reminds us at Slate that Sagan (1934–1996) also published a paper in 1993 that looked at Earth from that distance as if it were an exoplanet. What signals would prompt them to suspect life here? That approach is still followed by astronomer and director Lisa Kaltenegger at Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute. One question is, where would an intelligent, technologically advanced civilization need to be to see us? Kaltenegger and her collaborators used new data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission to figure out which stars have, have had, or will in the next 5,000 years have the right Read More ›

The Earth from space. This image elements furnished by NASA.

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post

Author
News
Date
July 11, 2021

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Earth, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrials (ET), Pale Blue Dot concept, Privileged Planet hypothesis, Rare Earth hypothesis}

Cornell: Earth Could Be Seen by ET Far More Easily Than Thought

_{Using analytic software, researchers can determine whether Earth would be visible from a given star system} _{News

July 11, 2021

3

Natural Intelligence, Science}

According to Cornell and American Museum of Natural History researchers, “Scientists have identified 2,034 nearby star-systems — within the small cosmic distance of 326 light-years — that could find Earth merely by watching our pale blue dot cross our sun”: Scientists at Cornell University and the American Museum of Natural History have identified 2,034 nearby star-systems — within the small cosmic distance of 326 light-years — that could find Earth merely by watching our pale blue dot cross our sun. That’s 1,715 star-systems that could have spotted Earth since human civilization blossomed about 5,000 years ago, and 319 more star-systems that will be added over the next 5,000 years. Exoplanets around these nearby stars have a cosmic front-row seat to Read More ›

Illustration of an extraterrestrial wearing a spacesuit standing on a mountaintop looking at the blue sky on an alien planet.

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post

Author
News
Date
December 5, 2020

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Exoplanets, Moore's Law, Science wagers, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), Seth Shostak}

Astronomer Bets a Cup of Coffee That We’ll Encounter ET by 2036

_{Seth Shostak points to the increase in the number of exoplanets identified and the increase in computing power} _{News

December 5, 2020

4

Arts & Culture, Science}

Seth Shostak, iconic astronomer who directs the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), is so confident that the vast increase in computing power, based on Moore’s Law, will make the difference in detecting signals from alien civilizations that he will bet you a cup of Starbucks coffee that we make contact by 2036. Moore’s Law (1965) originally held that computers would double in power every two years. But today’s pace is actually faster than that. And on the horizon is quantum computing and carbon computing, which would speed things up while reducing energy consumption. So Shostak (pictured) is looking at considerable reinforcements for a systematic search. He stresses that the search for ET is now largely computerized: “We don’t sit in Read More ›

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Author
News
Date
December 5, 2020

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
dolphins, Douglas Adams, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrials (ET), Fermi Paradox, Fine-tuning, Matt Williams, Michael Denton, Ocean planets, Water, Water worlds}

We Won’t Find ET on Ocean Planets, Researchers Say

_{We will see few extraterrestrials if a great many promising exoplanets are Waterworlds} _{News

December 5, 2020

5

Arts & Culture, Science}

Science writer Matt Williams has been writing a series on the question of why, despite the size of our galaxy, we see no other intelligent life forms. It could be, he suggests, that “many planets out there are just too watery!” Williams points out that, although water covers 71% of Earth’s surface, it is only 0.02% of the planet’s mass. If the proportion were much higher, Earth would be an ocean planet because the water would surface. It’s an open question whether an ocean planet would feature highly technologically developed intelligent life forms. Dolphins, for example, are quite intelligent but they do not seek to use any technology. The question of whether a planet could have too much water arose, Read More ›