Episode 1: ASTROBIOLOGY
with guest Dr. Chris McKay from the NASA Ames Research Center
In this episode, we're going to talk about astrobiology and the search for life in the universe. Living things have been found in very extreme environments on Earth, like hot springs, or near underwater volcanoes, or hidden beneath the Antarctic ice pack, or even inside rocks. Could life exist in those same kinds of places on other planets? When we look for signs of life on other worlds, what would we look for? How do we search it out? And, how would we know if what we find is caused by living things -- or some other physical process?
Listen (mp3, 8.7 MB)
Download Transcript (pdf)
Written and narrated by Carolyn Collins Petersen
Original music by Geodesium
Special thanks to Dr. Christopher P. McKay
Produced by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Web page materials by Andrew Fraknoi
Fraknoi (Foothill College & ASP)
Here are some materials for informal science educators (and their audiences) to delve more deeply into the topics discussed in this month's "Astronomy Behind the Headlines" podcast. We'll look at three topics inspired by Dr. McKay's comments: an introduction to astrobiology, the search for life on Mars, and the Kepler mission's search for Earth analogs.
We know that informal educators are often very busy. Thus, while there are wonderful full-length books on each of these topics, here we will restrict ourselves to materials that are accessible on the Web with the click of a few keys.
A "black smoker" -- an undersea vent where the heat and chemical energy from inside the Earth make a variety of living things possible.
Astrobiology (which used to be called exobiology) is the term scientists use for the study of the "origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe." That's quite a broad undertaking, if you think about it! Astrobiology is a relatively new field that combines the work of astronomers, biologists, chemists, paleontologists, ecologists, and geologists in an effort to determine whether Earth has the only examples of life in the cosmos or whether living things on Earth might have "cousins" among the planets and the stars.
We Alone?: A Radio Show on Astrobiology (hosted by Seth Shostak
and Molly Bentley). This humorous and informative program features
many segments and interviews on life beyond Earth:
an Astrobiologist (NASA's David Morrison, one of the founders of
astrobiology, answers public questions; has a rich and searchable
set of questions already answered):
Scientist Magazine "Instant Expert" Page Introducing Astrobiology:
Is an Astrobiologist and How Do I Become One (from the private Astrobiology
web site by SpaceRef, with good questions and answers):
NASA illustration showing the connection between life and the universe.
Educator Guide: A 60-page NASA booklet, available in PDF format,
with 5 activities for classrooms and museum workshops, at about
middle-school level. Several of the activities involve cards and
Living Earth (environments for life): A Sample Activity from the
SETI Institute's Voyages through Time Curriculum on Cosmic Evolution:
Sample Activities from Astrobiology: An Integrated Curriculum (a high-school guide, developed by TERC):
a. Extraordinary Claims (how the public can judge media accounts of life elsewhere):
b. WebQuest: The Xtreme Files (surfing for information on Earth life in extreme environments):
c. Is the Moon Habitable? (how it differs from Earth):
on Astrobiology from Science Scope Magazine (National Association
of Science Teachers):
Mars Exploration Rover instruments examine Mars.
Of all the planets with which we share our solar system, Mars is perhaps the most likely to have harbored at least the beginnings of life. At the very least, we now have good evidence, from orbiting and roving space missions that long ago there was abundant water on the red planet's surface. NASA's missions to Mars are designed to "follow the water" -- to search for the remains of life where liquid might have been present or frozen water still exists.
Introduction to Mars:
Mars Exploration Program (Jet Propulsion Laboratory web site):
Article from World Book Encyclopedia by astronomer Steven Squires
pages at the "Nine Planets" site:
Mars (an expandable, explorable map of Mars):
The Mars Spirit rover looks out at Gusev Crater in this photomosaic.
Mars Mission Activities (includes modules on following the water
and the search for life):
Mars: Old, Relatively (a brief activity showing how geologists use
images from Mars to figure out the ages of features):
Martian Sun-Times (groups develop a newspaper that gives news, weather,
and other martian information):
Mars Activities (a 131-page guide developed by JPL and Arizona State U.): http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/pdfs/MSIP-MarsActivities.pdf
Mars Exploration Curriculum Modules (a set of explorations developed by TERC for JPL, with some ideas that could be used in informal settings as well): http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/modulepage.htm
and Earth Afterschool Activities Guide:
Museum of Natural History Mars Activities (with out of school applications):
An artist’s impression of the Kepler spacecraft.
One way that astronomers can search for planets around other stars is to catch a planet moving in front of its star as seen from Earth. When a planet covers up part of its star, it is called a transit, and the blocked light makes the star a tiny bit dimmer. With real good light-measuring devices (called photometers), astronomers can detect this miniscule dimming. It's easier to do this from space, where the changing effects of the Earth's atmosphere are not a factor. On March 6, 2009, NASA launched the Kepler space telescope into orbit, designed to look at 100,000 stars at the same time, and to measure if any of them have a slight change in their light output. While big planets like Jupiter will cut down a star's light more, Kepler should be accurate enough to detect a smaller planet like the Earth crossing the face of its star.
Mission Website at NASA:
and Transits (from the Planetary Society): http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/extrasolar_planets/
Planet Quest (a general web site on finding planets around other stars, from JPL): http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
of Venus (a newsletter on a more local 2004 transit event when Venus
moved across the face of the Sun):
Mission Activities Page:
Mission Activities from the Night Sky Network:
Mission Models and Simulations:
Strange New Worlds Activity from Night Sky Network (a more general
activity on how astronomers learn about planets):