Something that has always crossed my mind is, if there were aliens? Could there be another species just like humans living on another planet? What would they look like?
There is no evidence found yet that directly proves life on other planets, however, scientists are finding bits and pieces of evidence that is making it seem very likely.
According to Matt Mountain, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, ”what we didn’t know five years ago is that perhaps 10 to 20 percent of stars around us have Earth-size planets in the habitable zone.”
The habitable zone is defined as, “the orbital region around a star in which an Earth-like planet can possess liquid water on its surface and possibly support life.” This means that there are a lot of planets that have the ability to support life. Scientists are researching various planets to try and find any sort of evidence.
There are many habitable zones. For example, “oceans of liquid water slosh beneath the icy shells of the Jupiter moons Europa and Ganymede, as well as that of the Saturn satellite Enceladus.”
Sources:
http://www.exploringlifesmysteries.com/is-there-life-on-other-planets/
http://www.britannica.com/science/habitable-zone
http://www.space.com/29041-alien-life-evidence-by-2025-nasa.html
Hi Sydney,
You posed one of the most interesting scientific questions of our time which is whether or not there is life on other planets. It is for this reason that I found your post to be very enjoyable to read. You include scientific information which supports that life can exist on other planets, but again the question still remains. Hopefully, we will gain more information in the years to come in regards to what kind of life is existing if any.
This was similar to my group’s “Most Interesting Scientific Question” we discussed in class. I think the probability of us finding extraterrestrial life is probably pretty good based on all the information about the earth-like planets in the universe. The matter of when is a question to take this further. I found this interesting article that takes some opinions at NASA on when certain time windows for discoveries will be explored. Nice blog!
I find this subject very interesting and I believe that there is a lot we do not know about the possible planets that could support life/habitats. However, I felt like I wanted to hear more after reading your blog. For example, what sorts of planets are scientists looking into and what kinds of tests do they do to determine if a planet may be inhabitable? I know you mentioned the areas near Jupiter but this cannot be the only area researched because you spoke earlier of areas being available closer to Earth. Jupiter and its moons are quite far away for us to reach and research anytime soon.