by Les C

Created on: March 25, 2009   Last Updated: March 30, 2009

Are we Alone in the Universe?

Are we alone in the universe? Are there other Earth type planets supporting life, maybe even intelligent life? These questions might be answered when an Alien race lands on Earth and introduce their selves, but it is more likely that we will have to seek them out. If, they exist and are aware of us apparently it isn't their intention to make their selves known, at least not yet or to the general public.

For hundreds of years we have been aware of the planets in our solar system and wondered if our star system was unique and possibly the only one of its kind. With the recent discovery of other stars with planets the question of, are we alone in the universe has greater significance. Life as we know it requires a planet with an atmosphere and certain elements and conditions. Finding these planets and studying their make up has become one of the fastest growing fields in Astronomy.

The first planet outside our solar system was discovered in the mid 1990's. Since that first detection scientists have discovered hundreds of other planets rotating around other stars. These are called exoplanets. After discovery of their existence it raises many other questions such as, can they support life as we know it. One very important ingredient for a life sustaining planet is an atmosphere, so scientist immediately started searching for ways to identify the exoplanets with atmospheres, and if so what they may consist of.

Detecting atmospheres and the elements they are made of is tedious and expensive. The tools available to scientist for this type of detection are few and in extreme demand. Two of the most important tools for this work are the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. The Hubble is getting old and the Spitzer is running out of cryogen, which is the coolant that allows it to detect minute variations in temperature thousands of light years away. With these drawbacks scientist like Mercedes Lopez Morales of the Carnegie Institution. and her team has resorted to using land based telescopes. Last summer using the European Southern Observatory's Telescope, and Carnegie's Magellan-Baade telescope she and her team had very revealing breakthrough.

A faint exoplanet about 5,000 light years away called OGLE TR056b was their candidate for this intensive research, and it paid off. Acquiring accurate readings of the exoplanet's star's light (photons) and heat (infrared radiation), then comparing it to that given off by the exoplanet during its eclipse

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>