Confirmation of Alien Life ‘Imminent and Inevitable’ as Probes Sent to Distant Ice World

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sputniknews.com

12.01.2020

In May 2018, astronomers provided evidence of water plume activity on Europa, the smallest of the four largest moons orbiting Jupiter, based on an updated analysis of data obtained from the Galileo space probe, with such data feeding into the suggestions that it could conceivably harbour extraterrestrial life.

Mankind may be on the verge of receiving confirmation that alien life is out there, and we are, by far, not alone in the Universe.
This dramatic forecast is being made ahead of two probes being sent to a mysterious moon near Earth.

Europa is the smallest of Jupiter’s four largest moons, but it is one of the more intriguing ones, as its surface is frozen, completely covered with a thick layer of ice. Scientists suggest there is a vast ocean beneath the surface.

The incredibly smooth icy surface also makes the moon one of the most reflective in the solar system.

“Discovery now seems inevitable and possibly imminent,” University of Melbourne researcher Cathal O’COnnell was quoted as saying by The Conversation.

“It seems inevitable other life is out there, especially considering that life appeared on Earth so soon after the planet was formed… And the definition of “habitable” has proven to be a rather flexible concept too,” said O’Connell.

In August, NASA confirmed it would build a space probe – the Europa Clipper – to investigate Europa. It followed the announcement in April by the European Space Agency that it would put the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) in place by 2029.

Europa Clipper’s Mission to Jupiter’s Ice Moon Confirmed

Scientists believe that mankind is on the cusp of exploring possibly the best place in our solar system to look for signs of alien life, as they suggest that Jupiter’s ice-covered moon, Europa, contains a salty global ocean.

To determine if the conditions on Europa are, indeed, favourable for life, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is preparing to conduct its first detailed study of the potentially habitable orb.

NASA’s spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, will make about 45 close passes over Europa, shifting its flight path for each flyby to move over a different location so that it eventually scans nearly the entire moon.

© FLICKR / NASA SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION

Jupiter and its moon

After each flyby, the spacecraft will send data back to Earth.
The spacecraft is being sent to try to answer specific questions about Europa’s ocean, ice shell, composition and geology.

“We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“We are building upon the scientific insights received from the flagship Galileo and Cassini spacecraft and working to advance our understanding of our cosmic origin, and even life elsewhere.”

NASA is targeting to have the Europa Clipper spacecraft complete and ready for launch as early as 2023.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for the Science Mission Directorate.

Mystery Moon

Europa, the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and named after the Phoenician mother of King Minos of Crete and lover of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter).

Slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust, with a very thin atmosphere, composed primarily of oxygen.
In addition to Earth-bound telescope observations, Europa has been examined by a succession of space-probe flybys, the first occurring in the early 1970s.

The mysterious moon has the smoothest surface of any known solid object in the Solar System, resulting in the hypothesis that a water ocean exists beneath it, which could conceivably harbour alien life. Scientists have theorised that the icy crust is anywhere from 20 to 50 kilometres (12 to 30 miles) thick, and that the subsurface ocean is as much as 100 km (60 miles) deep, meaning the moon would have from 2-3 times as much water as the Earth’s oceans. Life on Europa’s surface would be far more daunting, with temperatures at the equator peaking at a high of -50 C and radiation levels averaging 5.4 Sv (540 rem) of radiation per day, which is approximately 1,800 times the average annual dose we experience at sea level.

In addition, the Hubble Space Telescope detected water vapour plumes on Europa, similar to those observed on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

© AP PHOTO / NASA

Two views of Jupiter’s ice-covered moon, Europa

In May 2018, astronomers provided evidence of water plume activity on Europa, after updated analysis of data obtained from the Galileo space probe, which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.

The Galileo mission, launched in 1989, provides the bulk of current data on Europa, as no spacecraft has yet landed on Europa.

SCIENTISTS: HUMANS WILL DESTROY THEMSELVES LONG BEFORE THE SUN WILL

Scientists: Humans Will Destroy Themselves Long Before The Sun Will

SHTFplan.com

Mac Slavo
December 2nd, 2019

According to Avi Loeb, a Harvard scientist, humanity will destroy itself long before the sun will have the opportunity to do so.  Humans should be less concerned about what the sun will do and more concerned about the damage we are doing to ourselves.

Loeb warns that humanity will likely bring about its own demise “as a result of self-inflicted wounds long before the sun will pose its predictable threat.” Scientists say that in billions of years, the sun will incinerate our oceans leaving a desolate and dead planet devoid of life.  But we are doing enough damage to ourselves, that humanity won’t even make it long enough to witness such an event.

As the star runs out of hydrogen and helium atoms to burn in its core, it glows brighter and brighter. Eventually, the sun will bombard Earth with enough high-energy light to incinerate the world’s oceans, melt the polar ice caps, and strip our atmosphere of all moisture — effectively killing all life. –Business Insider

“I am inclined to believe that our civilization will disappear as a result of self-inflicted wounds long before the sun will pose its predictable threat,” Loeb wrote. “Why do I believe that? Because the dead silence we hear so far from the numerous habitable exoplanets we’ve discovered may indicate that advanced civilizations have much shorter lives than their host stars.”

But is there a solution to humanity’s demise? A BBC reporter recently posed that very question to Loeb, an astronomer.  In a recent Scientific American blog post, Loeb stated how imperative it is for our species to relocate to other parts of the universe that are less close to our sun’s vacillating brightness.

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The astronomer doesn’t want us to remain shackled to existing planets and moons, either.  He said it’d be best if humanity could “manufacture a gigantic structure that will be able [to maneuver] the optimal orbital distance at any given time” from the sun’s deadly energy. Once we successfully colonize both nearby and interstellar space, Loeb added, we can make genetically identical copies of ourselves and “the flora and fauna we hold dear” to seed other planets with life.

However, Loeb is not optimistic that this will happen. Humanity is on track to wipe itself out before the sun can pose a real threat. Obviously, the astronomer’s solution is one that will have to happen in the future and therefore, won’t do much for preserving people alive on Earth today. But to Loeb, it is more important to ensure the longevity of our species as a whole rather than protecting “our own skin.”

Messages from other worlds? Mysterious radio signal detected by high-tech Chinese telescope

Source

http://www.rt.com

Published time: 9 Sep, 2019

The Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang, in southwestern China’s Guizhou province © AFP / STR

Chinese astronomers remain puzzled over a strange signal that was picked up by one of the world’s most powerful radio telescopes. The rare phenomenon cannot be explained and scientists say they don’t want to jump to conclusions.

China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) has detected a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) – unexplained radio signals coming from outer space – for the first time last week, according to reports.

First discovered in 2007, FRBs are extremely rare, with fewer than 100 having been documented to date.

FRBs usually only appear once, making them extremely difficult to track. Curiously, the FRB detected by the Chinese telescope has been observed before.

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Known as FRB121102, the radio signal was first discovered in 2012 and later repeated in 2015. The signal came from a dwarf galaxy located three billion light-years from Earth.

Between August 30 and September 3, FAST recorded dozens of pulses from the FRB.

While undoubtedly exciting, not enough is known about the enigmatic signal to draw any conclusions about what could have created it, according to Zhang Xinxin, an assistant engineer with the National Astronomical Observatories of China.

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Some theories have already been ruled out, though. The astronomers say that they are certain that the signal is not the result of interference from aircraft or satellites. The scientific community remains baffled by FRBs and where they come from.

Scientists Now Believe Other Planets May Have Even More Life Than Earth Does

Source

TheMindUnleashed.com

ELIAS MARAT

AUG 23, 2019 

A new study indicates that other planets may have better conditions for life to thrive than Earth itself has.

(TMU) — The idea that there is no “Planet B” has long been a slogan for environmentalists trying to convey the gravity of the unfolding ecological catastrophe on our planet, but new research could render the mantra moot as scientists have revealed that exoplanets may exist in the universe that are capable of supporting abundant life-forms—and they could, in fact, be more hospitable a home than Earth.

Researchers have released a new study revealing the “surprising conclusion” that “conditions on some exoplanets with favorable ocean circulation patterns could be better suited to support life that is more abundant or more active than life on Earth,” according to geophysicist Stephanie Olson of the University of Chicago.

And while these exoplanets are so distant from our own solar system as to render it impossible to reach them with space probes, scientists are working on new remote sensing tools such as telescopes that would allow us to better understand what condition are actually like on these planets which may have the ability to support life on a scale unknown on our own planet.

Scientists have long estimated that roughly 35 percent of all known exoplanets larger than Earth are likely to be rich in water.

“NASA’s search for life in the Universe is focused on so-called Habitable Zone planets, which are worlds that have the potential for liquid water oceans,” Olson said.

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Planets that orbit around other stars are called exoplanets. Exoplanets are very hard to see directly with telescopes. So how do we look for Earth-like planets in other solar systems?

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Continuing, she explained:

“Our work has been aimed at identifying the exoplanet oceans which have the greatest capacity to host globally abundant and active life. Life in Earth’s oceans depends on upwelling (upward flow) which returns nutrients from the dark depths of the ocean to the sunlit portions of the ocean where photosynthetic life lives. More upwelling means more nutrient resupply, which means more biological activity. These are the conditions we need to look for on exoplanets.”

Olson’s team modeled a number of different types of exoplanets using ROCKE-3D software designed by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) to create simulations of planetary bodies with their own unique climates and ocean habitats.

The research discovered that those planets with thicker and more dense atmospheres, slower rates of rotation, and the presence of continents all created higher upswelling rates. Olson noted:

“A further implication is that Earth might not be optimally habitable—and life elsewhere may enjoy a planet that is even more hospitable than our own.”

The research, which was presented as a keynote lecture at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Congress in Barcelona, Spain, serves as a reminder that life is always more common than “detectable” life that lies in plain sight, Olson said. In the future, scientists should “should target the subset of habitable planets that will be most favorable to large, globally active biospheres because those are the planets where life will be easiest to detect—and where non-detections will be most meaningful,”she added.

Chris Reinhard of the Georgia Institute of Technology commented:

“We expect oceans to be important in regulating some of the most compelling remotely detectable signs of life on habitable worlds, but our understanding of oceans beyond our solar system is currently very rudimentary. Dr. Olson’s work represents a significant and exciting step forward in our understanding of exoplanet oceanography”.

Equipped with the knowledge contained in the study, scientists can now devise the best means through which to detect these new planets teeming with life. Olson concluded:

“Now we know what to look for, so we need to start looking.”

 

NASA Has Just Discovered a New Planet Unlike Any in Our Solar System

Source

TheMindUnleashed.com

ELIAS MARAT

JUL 29, 2019 

NASA has announced the discovery of three mysterious “missing link” planets in the TOI-270 star system.

Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger

(TMU) — NASA’s latest planet-hunting satellite has discovered three new worlds, including an entirely new alien planet with characteristics unseen within our own solar system.

The strange new exoplanets, which means they are outside of our solar system, are a part of the TOI-270 star system.

The new system, which revolves around a neighboring star, includes a rocky super-Earth that is slightly larger than our planet, as well as two other gaseous planets twice the size of Earth. Researchers claim that the planets are a “missing link” that sits between the smaller rocky worlds, including our Earth and Mars, and much larger gaseous planets such as Saturn and Jupiter.

The discovery, which is detailed in the latest issue of scientific journal Nature Astronomy, was made possible by NASA’s Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which was launched into space in 2018 and has since scanned the universe for stars and planets capable of supporting alien life.

The smaller super-Earth lies within the habitable zone, meaning that it lies within the range of distance from a Sun-like star that makes it temperate enough to allow for liquid-water oceans. It is also a “quiet” planet, meaning that it has fewer flares and scientists will be able to observe it and its neighboring planets with greater ease.

However, researchers believe that its atmosphere is so thick and dense that the planet is extremely hot, potentially making the surface too warm to support the type of life found on our planet.

Stephen Kane, a UC Riverside associate professor of planetary astrophysics and member of UCR’s NASA-funded Alternative Earths Astrobiology Center, said in a press release that the discovery is exactly what NASA’s satellite was designed to find.

Kane explained:

“We’ve found very few planets like this in the habitable zone, and many fewer around a quiet star, so this is rare. We don’t have a planet quite like this in our solar system.”

With a distance of only 73 light years away, the exoplanets are also among the closest ever found.

Kane explained:

“The diameter of our galaxy is 100,000 light years, and our galaxy is just one of millions of galaxies … So, 73 light years means it’s one of our neighboring stars.”

Researchers hope that the “missing link” solar system will shed greater light on why so few worlds exist at that size.

This graphic shows the worlds in the TOI 270 system. According to UCR, “temperatures given for TOI 270 planets are equilibrium temperatures, calculated without taking into account the warming effects of any possible atmospheres.” Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Lead researcher Maximilian Gunther from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said:

“TOI-270 will soon allow us to study this ‘missing link’ between rocky Earth-like planets and gas-dominant mini-Neptunes, because here all of these types formed in the same system.” 

Continuing, Gunther said:

“TOI-270 is a true Disneyland for exoplanet science, and one of the prime systems TESS was set out to discover.

It is an exceptional laboratory for not one, but many reasons – it really ticks all the boxes.”

Indeed, the researchers are hopeful that other planets within this solar system are waiting to be found.

The planets link together in what researchers describe as a “resonant chain,” meaning that their orbits line up in neat, whole integers—giving them a “resonance” with one another that gives researchers a method to discover more planets. Within our own solar system, the moons of Jupiter also line up in a “resonant” formation.

Gunther said:

“For TOI-270, these planets line up like pearls on a string.

That’s a very interesting thing, because it lets us study their dynamical behavior. And you can almost expect, if there are more planets, the next one would be somewhere further out, at another integer ratio.”

The team remains hopeful that additional planets will be discovered in the neighboring solar system. And while the smaller planet is unlikely to host life due to its dense atmosphere, those planets lying at a greater distance from the star could be cooler and more capable of allowing water to pool on their surface.

 

5 Possible New Earths Found: Hubble Observes Atmospheres of Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone (TRAPPIST-1)

Hubble Space Telescope

Published on 13 May 2019

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first spectroscopic survey of Earth-sized planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system’s habitable zone. Hubble reveals that at least the inner five planets do not seem to contain puffy, hydrogen-rich atmospheres similar to gaseous planets such as Neptune. This means the atmospheres may be more shallow and rich in heavier gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen.

Astronomers say it’s time to take the search for aliens seriously

Astronomers are hoping to make looking for alien technology an official science goal of NASA.

Source: Astronomers say it’s time to take the search for aliens seriously | Science News

Source link

http://www.sciencenews.org

By Lisa Grossman

January 28, 2019

Some scientists are pushing for NASA to make looking for alien technology an official goal

WE’RE LISTENING  A radio telescope in Green Bank, W.Va., was the first to listen for signals from intelligent aliens in 1960. Now scientists are using another instrument, the Green Bank Telescope (shown), to search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

 

Long an underfunded, fringe field of science, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence may be ready to go mainstream.

Astronomer Jason Wright is determined to see that happen. At a meeting in Seattle of the American Astronomical Society in January, Wright convened “a little ragtag group in a tiny room” to plot a course for putting the scientific field, known as SETI, on NASA’s agenda.

The group is writing a series of papers arguing that scientists should be searching the universe for “technosignatures” — any sign of alien technology, from radio signals to waste heat. The hope is that those papers will go into a report to Congress at the end of 2020 detailing the astronomical community’s priorities. That report, Astro 2020: Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics, will determine which telescopes fly and which studies receive federal funding through the next decade.

“The stakes are high,” says Wright, of Penn State University. “If the decadal survey says, ‘SETI is a national science priority, and NSF and NASA need to fund it,’ they will do it.”

SETI searches date back to 1960, when astronomer Frank Drake used a radio telescope in Green Bank, W.Va., to listen for signals from an intelligent civilization (SN Online: 11/1/09). But NASA didn’t start a formal SETI program until 1992, only to see it canceled within a year by a skeptical Congress.

Private organizations picked up the baton, including the SETI Institute, founded in Mountain View, Calif., in 1985 by astronomer Jill Tarter — the inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character in the movie Contact (SN Online: 5/29/12). Then in 2015, Russian billionaires Yuri and Julia Milner launched the Breakthrough Initiatives to join the hunt for E.T. But the search for technosignatures still hasn’t become a more serious, self-sustaining scientific discipline, Wright says.

“If NASA were to declare technosignatures a scientific priority, then we would be able to apply for money to work on it. We would be able to train students to do it,” Wright says. “Then we could catch up” to more mature fields of astronomy, he says.

Wright himself is a relative newcomer to SETI, entering the field in 2014 with a study on searching for heat from alien technology. He was also one of a group to suggest that the oddly flickering “Tabby’s star” could be surrounded by an alien megastructure — and then to debunk that idea with more data (SN: 9/30/17, p. 11).

THE SETI VANGUARD Astronomer Jason Wright (third from the left, wearing sunglasses) and his students visited the Green Bank Telescope as part of the first-ever SETI graduate course at Penn State University.nline, November 1, 2009.

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