Category Archives: SETI

Exoplanets, SETI

Video: Exoplanets, habitable zones, and habitablity

Here’s a new SETI Institute seminar:  The Diversity of Habitable Zones and the Planets – Stephen Kane (SETI Talks)

Caption:

The field of exoplanets has rapidly expanded from the exclusivity of exoplanet detection to include exoplanet characterization. A key step towards this characterization is the determination of which planets occupy the Habitable Zone (HZ) of their host stars. As the Kepler data continues to be processed, the orbital period sensitivity is increasing and there are now numerous exoplanets known to occupy the HZ of their host stars.

In this talk Dr. Kane will describe the properties of the HZ, the dependence on the spectral type properties, and the current state of exoplanet detections in the HZ. Along the way Dr. Kane will attempt to dispel some common misconceptions regarding the Habitable Zone. Dr. Kane will relate HZ results to the calculation of eta_Earth and eta_Venus. Finally, Dr. Kane will present several case studies of HZ Kepler planets, including circumbinary planets for which the HZ is a time-dependent function.

Astronomy, Exoplanets, SETI

Video: NASA panel on the search for life on exoplanets

Here is a video of the panel discussion yesterday about the search for life on planets orbiting other stars (see earlier posting):

Caption:

NASA space-based observatories are making unprecedented new discoveries and revealing worlds never before seen. During a televised panel discussion of leading science and engineering experts at NASA Headquarters on Monday, July 14, a scientific and technological roadmap to lead to the discovery of potentially habitable worlds among the stars was addressed. The agency’s next step, the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb telescope), was featured as a new tool that will continue to help scientists rewrite scientific textbooks long after its scheduled launch in 2018.

Astronomy, Exoplanets, SETI

The search for the Fermi Paradox explanation

The Fermi paradox seems to be getting more attention these days:

Exoplanets, SETI, Space Science

National Geographic looks at “The hunt for life beyond Earth”

The cover article of the July 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine is about looking for signs of extraterrestrial life :  Astrobiology – The hunt for life beyond Earth: One of the oldest questions may be answered in our lifetimes. Are we alone?

This includes searches both of sites within our solar system and of exoplanets.  Of course, there are great images and infographics like all Nat Geo articles.

Supplements include Distant Oasis about the possibility of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Goldilocks Worlds is about finding exoplanets of sizes similar to earth and in orbits within the  habitable zones of their stars.

Bill Nye of the Planetary Society discusses the issue of finding the resources to answer this old question:

Exoplanets, SETI

Less giggling over searching for ET

The search for signs of extraterrestrial life gets fewer giggles when mentioned today in mixed company. Kathleen Toerpe , deputy CEO for Programs and Special Projects at the Astrosociology Research Institute and editor of The Journal of Astrosociology,  writes about the growing acceptance of the search for extraterrestrial life as a serious and worthwhile pursuit : Putting the ‘Giggle Factor’ to Rest – Centauri Dreams.

Once exiled to the fringes of legitimate scientific inquiry by the Giggle Factor, the search for extraterrestrial life has gained new momentum, focus, and funding as the search broadens to encompass the search for microbial, in addition to intelligent, life. In the end, it may be the children who lead the way into a new future for SETI. In his opening statement, Committee Chair Smith reminded the high school students in attendance at the hearing that day that one of the hearing’s purposes is “to inspire students today to be the scientists of tomorrow.” And the noticeable lack of giggling in the room was magic to my ears.