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How Special Are We?

How Special Are We?. Answer: Not Very. In the Beginning Our Solar System The Star Upsilon Andromeda HD 209458 Extraterrestrial Life. IN THE BEGINNING. The Big Bang -Everything known was from one source. -Earth and all of us. -Everything that is anything.

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How Special Are We?

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  1. How Special Are We? Answer: Not Very In the Beginning Our Solar System The Star Upsilon Andromeda HD 209458 Extraterrestrial Life

  2. IN THE BEGINNING The Big Bang -Everything known was from one source. -Earth and all of us. -Everything that is anything. “At the point of this event all of the matter and energy of space was contained at one point.” - www.umich.edu Within 3 seconds H, He, and Li began to form.

  3. IN THE BEGINNING First Generation Stars -Thermonuclear Reactions at 107 K -Components for us were made. (Oxygen and Carbon) -Happened on a large Scale -Led to the second generation.

  4. IN THE BEGINNING Second Generation Stars -More components for us were made. -CNO Cycle -Responsible for most of the universe’s Nitrogen -Happened on a larger Scale -Led to wide dispersal of elements. The heavy elements, essential to life, were created by the early generations of massive stars. In essence, then, we can paraphrase Shakespeare, “We are such stuff as stars are made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” -- Page 13 in our book

  5. Our Solar System Formed From a Nebular Cloud -Angular Momentum -Circumstellar Disk -Protostar and Protoplanets

  6. Our Solar System • Contents • Sun: 99.85% • Planets: 0.135% • Comets: 0.01% ? • Satellites: 0.00005% • Asteroids: 0.0000002% ? • Meteoroids: 0.0000001% ? • Nutrinos: 0.0000001% ?

  7. The Star Upsilon Andromeda • 44 light years away • Discovered in 1999 • First System Comparable to Ours • Found by Star Wobble • Step Closer To Finding Life “This is the one we’ve all been waiting for.” -Stephen Maran, American Astronomical Society

  8. The Star Upsilon Andromeda Probably no life. - Too Big - Too Close - No Liquid Water

  9. The Star Upsilon Andromeda What about on Moons? -We have around 141 moons in our solar system. -Jupiter’s Europa is a good possibility for life. -They are planets like Jupiter, why not moons like Europa? -The moons could also be like Earth.

  10. HD 209458 • 150 light years away • In constellation Pegasus • Sun-sized Star • Discovered in 1999 The planet around this star was discovered in 1999, but surfaced again when it passed in front of the star in 2001.

  11. HD 209458 • Saturn sized gas-giant • 1st extrasolar planet transit • Has an atmosphere of Oxygen, Carbon, and Nitrogen

  12. HD 209458 Again Probably No Life • Too Massive • Primarily Gaseous • Too Close Nevertheless, the atmosphere is a good sign in the right direction for extraterrestrial life.

  13. Extraterrestrial Life In the Beginning - All of the matter in the universe was at one singular point - Common background continued through the first and second generations of stars - Star creation and recreation happened all throughout the universe

  14. Extraterrestrial Life Our Solar System - The results of the Big Bang and the generations of stars. - Fairly simple process involving the condensing of a dust clouds. - These dust clouds are available all throughout the universe.

  15. Extraterrestrial Life Upsilon Andromeda - Posed great possibilities because it was a multi planet system. HD 209458 - Extrasolar planets have atmospheres.

  16. Infinite Space=Infinite Possibilities Life is a pretty special thing, but it looks like it could be a common occurrence in the universe.

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