In the hunt for extra-terrestrial life, scientists tend to take what is known as the “low-hanging fruit approach”. This consists of looking for conditions similar to what we experience here on Earth, which include at oxygen, organic molecules, and plenty of liquid water. Interestingly enough, some of the places where these ingredients are present in abundance include the interiors of icy moons like <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/15201/jupiters-moon-europa/">Europa</a>, <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/15509/ganymede/">Ganymede</a>, <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/48796/enceladus/">Enceladus</a> and <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/15429/saturns-moon-titan/">Titan</a>.
Whereas there is only one terrestrial planet in our Solar System that is capable of supporting life (Earth), there are multiple “<a href="https://www.universetoday.com/134116/nasas-plans-explore-europa-ocean-worlds/">Ocean Worlds</a>” like these moons. Taking this a step further, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/">Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics</a> (CfA) conducted <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1711.09908.pdf">a study</a> that showed how potentially-habitable icy moons with interior oceans are far more likely than terrestrial planets in the Universe.
The study, titled &#8220;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1711.09908.pdf">Subsurface Exolife</a>&#8220;, was performed by Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb of the <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/">Harvard Smithsonain Center for Astrophysics</a> (CfA) and the <a href="https://itc.cfa.harvard.edu/">Institute for Theory and Computation</a> (ITC) at Harvard University. For the sake of their study, the authors consider all that what defines a circumstellar habitable zone (aka. &#8220;<a href="https://www.universetoday.com/120982/what-is-the-habitable-zone/">Goldilocks Zone</a>&#8220;) and likelihood of there being life inside moons with interior oceans.
<figure id="attachment_137779" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Enceladus_interior_node_full_image_2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-137779 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Enceladus_interior_node_full_image_2-580x435.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Enceladus_interior_node_full_image_2-580x435.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Enceladus_interior_node_full_image_2-250x188.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Enceladus_interior_node_full_image_2.jpg 700w" alt="Icy worlds such as Enceladus could host life." width="580" height="435" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Cutaway showing the interior of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Image Credit: ESA</figcaption></figure>
To begin, Lingam and Loeb address the tendency to confuse habitable zones (HZs) with habitability, or to treat the two concepts as interchangeable. For instance, planets that are located within an HZ are not necessarily capable of supporting life – in this respect, Mars and Venus are perfect examples. Whereas Mars is too cold and it’s atmosphere too thin to support life, Venus suffered a runaway greenhouse effect that caused it to become a hot, hellish place.
On the other hand, bodies that are located beyond HZs have been found to be capable of having liquid water and the necessary ingredients to give rise to life. In this case, the moons of Europa, Ganymede, Enceladus, <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/122590/saturns-moon-dione-2/">Dione</a>, Titan, and several others serve as perfect examples. Thanks to the prevalence of water and geothermal heating caused by tidal forces, these moons all have interior oceans that could very well support life.
As Lingam, a post-doctoral researcher at the ITC and CfA and the lead author on the study, told Universe Today via email:
<blockquote>“The conventional notion of planetary habitability is the habitable zone (HZ), namely the concept that the “planet” must be situated at the right distance from the star such that it may be capable of having liquid water on its surface. However, this definition assumes that life is: (a) surface-based, (b) on a planet orbiting a star, and (c) based on liquid water (as the solvent) and carbon compounds. In contrast, our work relaxes assumptions (a) and (b), although we still retain (c).”</blockquote>
As such, Lingam and Loeb widen their consideration of habitability to include worlds that could have subsurface biospheres. Such environments go beyond icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus and could include many other types deep subterranean environments. On top of that, it has also been speculated that life could exist in <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/122554/is-there-a-kraken-in-kraken-mare-what-kind-of-life-would-we-find-on-titan/">Titan’s methane lakes</a> (i.e. methanogenic organisms). However, Lingam and Loeb chose to focus on icy moons instead.
<figure id="attachment_116558" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/europa.jpg"><img class="wp-image-116558 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/europa-580x326.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/europa-580x326.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/europa-250x140.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/europa-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/europa.jpg 1600w" alt="Icy worlds like Europa could host life." width="580" height="326" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A “true color” image of the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa as seen by the Galileo spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute</figcaption></figure>
“Even though we consider life in subsurface oceans under ice/rock envelopes, life could also exist in hydrated rocks (i.e. with water) beneath the surface; the latter is sometimes referred to as subterranean life,” said Lingam. “We did not delve into the second possibility since many of the conclusions (but not all of them) for subsurface oceans are also applicable to these worlds. Similarly, as noted above, we do not consider lifeforms based on exotic chemistries and solvents, since it is not easy to predict their properties.”
Ultimately, Lingam and Loeb chose to focus on worlds that would orbit stars and likely contain subsurface life humanity would be capable of recognizing. They then went about assessing the likelihood that such bodies are habitable, what advantages and challenges life will have to deal with in these environments, and the likelihood of such worlds existing beyond our Solar System (compared to potentially-habitable terrestrial planets).
For starters, “Ocean Worlds” have several advantages when it comes to supporting life. Within the Jovian system (Jupiter and its moons) radiation is a major problem, which is the result of charged particles becoming trapped in the gas giants powerful magnetic field. Between that and the moon’s tenuous atmospheres, life would have a very hard time surviving on the surface, but life dwelling beneath the ice would fare far better.
“One major advantage that icy worlds have is that the subsurface oceans are mostly sealed off from the surface,” said Lingam. “Hence, UV radiation and cosmic rays (energetic particles), which are typically detrimental to surface-based life in high doses, are unlikely to affect putative life in these subsurface oceans.”
<figure id="attachment_136960" style="width: 448px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/enceladus_cross-section.jpg"><img class="wp-image-136960 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/enceladus_cross-section-448x580.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/enceladus_cross-section-448x580.jpg 448w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/enceladus_cross-section-193x250.jpg 193w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/enceladus_cross-section-768x994.jpg 768w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/enceladus_cross-section-791x1024.jpg 791w" alt="Icy worlds like Enceladus might host life." width="448" height="580" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Artist rendering showing an interior cross-section of the crust of Enceladus, which shows how hydrothermal activity may be causing the plumes of water at the moon’s surface. Image Credits: NASA-GSFC/SVS, NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute</figcaption></figure>
“On the negative side,’ he continued, “the absence of sunlight as a plentiful energy source could lead to a biosphere that has far less organisms (per unit volume) than Earth. In addition, most organisms in these biospheres are likely to be microbial, and the probability of complex life evolving may be low compared to Earth. Another issue is the potential availability of nutrients (e.g. phosphorus) necessary for life; we suggest that these nutrients might be available only in lower concentrations than Earth on these worlds.”
In the end, Lingam and Loeb determined that a wide range of worlds with ice shells of moderate thickness may exist in a wide range of habitats throughout the cosmos. Based on how statistically likely such worlds are, they concluded that “Ocean Worlds” like Europa, Enceladus, and others like them are about 1000 times more common than rocky planets that exist within the HZs of stars.
These findings have some drastic implications for the search for extra-terrestrial and extra-solar life. It also has significant implications for how life may be distributed through the Universe. As Lingam summarized:
<blockquote>“We conclude that life on these worlds will undoubtedly face noteworthy challenges. However, on the other hand, there is no definitive factor that prevents life (especially microbial life) from evolving on these planets and moons. In terms of panspermia, we considered the possibility that a free-floating planet containing subsurface exolife could be temporarily “captured” by a star, and that it may perhaps seed other planets (orbiting that star) with life. As there are many variables involved, not all of them can be quantified accurately.”</blockquote>
<figure id="attachment_78605" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/panspermia_big2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-78605 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/panspermia_big2-580x423.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/panspermia_big2-580x423.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/panspermia_big2-250x182.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/panspermia_big2.jpg 600w" alt="" width="580" height="423" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A new instrument called the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes (STEG) is being developed to find evidence of life on other worlds. Image Credit: NASA/Jenny Mottor</figcaption></figure>
Professor Leob – the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, the director of the ITC, and the study’s co-author – added that finding examples of this life presents its own share of challenges. As he told Universe Today via email:
<blockquote>“It is very difficult to detect sub-surface life remotely (from a large distance) using telescopes. One could search for excess heat but that can result from natural sources, such as volcanos. The most reliable way to find sub-surface life is to land on such a planet or moon and drill through the surface ice sheet. This is the approach contemplated for a future NASA mission to Europa in the solar system.”</blockquote>
Exploring the implications for panspermia further, Lingam and Loeb also considered what might happen if a planet like Earth were ever ejected from the Solar System. As they note in their study, previous research has indicated how planets with thick atmospheres or subsurface oceans could still support life while floating in interstellar space. As Loeb explained, they also considered what would happen if this ever happened with Earth someday:
<blockquote>“An interesting question is what would happen to the Earth if it was ejected from the solar system into cold space without being warmed by the Sun. We have found that the oceans would freeze down to a depth of 4.4 kilometers but pockets of liquid water would survive in the deepest regions of the Earth’s ocean, such as the Mariana Trench, and life could survive in these remaining sub-surface lakes. This implies that sub-surface life could be transferred between planetary systems.”</blockquote>
<figure id="attachment_136031" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation.jpg"><img class="wp-image-136031 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation-580x289.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation-580x289.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation-250x125.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation-768x383.jpg 768w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation-1024x511.jpg 1024w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/drake-equation.jpg 1600w" alt="" width="580" height="289" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Drake Equation, a mathematical formula for the probability of finding life or advanced civilizations in the universe. Image Credit: University of Rochester</figcaption></figure>
This study also serves as a reminder that as humanity explores more of the Solar System (largely for the sake of finding extra-terrestrial life) what we find also has implications in the hunt for life in the rest of the Universe. This is one of the benefits of the “low-hanging fruit” approach. What we don’t know is informed but what we do, and what we find helps inform our expectations of what else we might find.
And of course, it’s a very vast Universe out there. What we may find is likely to go far beyond what we are currently capable of recognizing!

No matter what, we're still looking for planets with water.

Most of the life in the cosmos may exist on frozen ice worlds

Off World

We should broaden our search for space life to places that might not seem to be the most hospitable. Icy worlds with interior oceans could be key.

Most of the Life in the Cosmos May Exist on Frozen Ice Worlds

If we want to find alien life, we shouldn't look for planets like our own.

In the past decade, the rate at which extra-solar planets have been discovered and characterized has increased prodigiously. Because of this, the question of when we might explore these distant planets directly has repeatedly come up. In addition, the age-old question of what we might find once we get there – i.e. is humanity alone in the Universe or not? – has also come up with renewed vigor.
These questions have led to a number of interesting and ambitious proposals. These include <a href="http://www.projectblue.org/">Project Blue</a>, a space telescope which would directly observe any planets orbiting Alpha Centauri, and <a href="http://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/3">Breakthrough Starshot</a> – which aims to send a laser-driven nanocraft to Alpha Centauri in just 20 years. But perhaps the most daring proposal comes in the form of <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06087.pdf">Project Genesis</a>, which would attempt to seed distant planets with life.
This proposal was put forth by Dr. Claudius Gros, a theoretical physicist from the <a href="http://www.goethe-university-frankfurt.de/66535442/Forschung_Arbeitsgruppen">Institute for Theoretical Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt</a>. In 2016, he published <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10509-016-2911-0">a paper</a> that described how robotic missions equipped with gene factories (or cryogenic pods) could be used to distribute microbial life to &#8220;transiently habitable exoplanets&#8221; – i.e. planets capable of supporting life, but not likely to give rise to it on their own.
<figure id="attachment_113597" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-113597" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/12/panspermia_big2-600x438.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="438" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The purpose of Project Genesis would be to seed &#8220;transiently habitable&#8221; worlds with life, thus giving them a jump start on evolution. Credit: NASA/Jenny Mottor</figcaption></figure>
Not long ago, Universe Today wrote about Dr. Gros’ <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2399-6528/aa927e">recent study</a> where he proposed using a magnetic sail to slow down an interstellar spacecraft. We were fortunate to catch up with Dr. Gros again and had a chance to ask him about Project Genesis. You can find our Q&amp;A below, and be sure to check out his seminal paper that describes this project – “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10509-016-2911-0">Developing Ecospheres on Transiently Habitable Planets: The Genesis Project</a>&#8220;.
<h2>What Is the Purpose of Project Genesis?</h2>
Exoplanets come in all sizes, temperatures and compositions. The purpose of the Genesis Project is to offer terrestrial life alternative evolutionary pathways on those exoplanets that are potentially habitable but yet lifeless. The basic philosophy of most scientists nowadays is that simple life is common in the universe and complex life is rare. We don’t know that for sure, but at the moment, that is the consensus.
If you had good conditions, simple life can develop very fast, but complex life will have a hard time. At least on Earth, it took a very long time for complex life to arrive. The <a href="http://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/en/science/origin/04-cambrian-explosion.php">Cambrian Explosion</a> only happened about 500 million years ago, roughly 4 billion years after Earth was formed. If we give planets the opportunity to fast forward evolution, we can give them the chance to have their own Cambrian Explosions. 

<h2>What Worlds Would Be Targeted?</h2>
The prime candidates are habitable “oxygen planets” around M-dwarfs like TRAPPIST-1. It is very likely that the oxygen-rich primordial atmosphere of these planets will have prevented abiogenesis in first place, that is the formation of life. Our galaxy could potentially harbor billions of habitable but lifeless oxygen planets.
Nowadays, astronomers are looking for planets around M-stars. These are very different from planets around Sun-like stars. Once a star forms, it takes a certain amount of time to contract to the point where fusion begins, and it starts to produce energy. For the Sun, this took 10 million years, which is very fast. For stars like TRAPPIST-1, it would take 100 million to 1 billion years. Then they have to contract to dissipate their initial heat.
The planets around TRAPPIST-1 would have been very hot, because the star was very hot for a long time. All the water that was in their stratospheres, the UV radiation would have disassociated it into hydrogen and oxygen – the hydrogen escaped, and the oxygen remained. All surveys have showed that they have oxygen atmospheres, but this is the product of chemical disassociation and not from plants (as with Earth).
There’s a good chance that oxygen planets are sterile, because oxygen planets eat up prebiotic conditions. We believe there may be billions of oxygen planets in our galaxy. They would have no life, and complex life needs oxygen. In science fiction, you have all these planets that look alike. We could imagine that in half a billion years, we could have this because we seeded oxygen planets (only we couldn’t travel there quickly since we have no FTL).
<figure id="attachment_113599" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-113599" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/12/pia21751-600x338.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="338" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Illustration of what the TRAPPIST-1 system might look like from a vantage point near planet TRAPPIST-1f (at right). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech</figcaption></figure>
<h2>What Kind of Organisms Would Be Sent?</h2>
The first wave would consist of unicellular autotrophs. That is photo-synthesizing bacteria, like cyanobacteria, and eukaryotes (the cell type making up all complex life, that is animals and plants). Heterotrophs would follow in a second stage, organisms that feed on other organisms and can only exist after autotrophs exist and take root.
<h2>How Would These Organisms Be Sent?</h2>
That depends on the technology. If it can advance, we can miniaturize a gene factory. In principle, nature is a miniature gene factory. Everything we want to produce is very small. If it’s possible that would be the best option. Send in a gene bank, and then select the most optimal organism to send down. If that is not possible, you would have to have frozen germs. In the end, it depends on what would be the technically available.
You could also send in synthetic life. Synthetic biology is a very active research field, which involves reprogramming the genetic code. In science fiction, you have alien life with a different genetic code. Today, people are trying to produce this here on Earth. The end goal is to have new life forms that are based on a different code. This would be very dangerous on Earth, but on a far-distant planet, it would be beneficial.
<h2>What If These Worlds Are Not Sterile?</h2>
Genesis is all about life, not destroying life, so we’d want to avoid that. The probes would have to go into orbit, so we are pretty sure that from orbit, we could detect complex life on the surface. The Genesis Project was intended for planets that are not habitable for eternity. Earth is habitable for billions of years, but we are not sure about habitable exoplanets.
<figure id="attachment_113600" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-113600" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/12/exoplanet_limb_2-600x338.png" alt="" width="600" height="338" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">This illustration shows a star&#8217;s light illuminating the atmosphere of a planet. Credits: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</figcaption></figure>
Exoplanets come in all kinds of sized, temperatures, and habitabilities. Many of these planets will only be habitable for some time, maybe 1 billion years. Life there will not have time to evolve into complex life forms. So you have a decision: leave them like they are, or take a chance at developing complex life there.
Some believe that all bacteria are worth saving. On Earth, there is no protection for bacteria. But bacteria living on different planets are treated differently. Planetary protection, why do we do that? So we can study the life, or for the sake of protecting life itself? Mars most likely had life at one time, but now not, except for maybe a few bacteria. Still, we plan manned missions to Mars, which means planetary protection is off. It’s a contradiction.
I am very enthusiastic about finding life, but what about the planets where we don’t find life? This offers the possibility about doing something about it.
<h2>Could Humanity Benefit From This Someday (i.e. Colonize &#8220;Seeded&#8221; Planets)?</h2>
Yes and no. Yes, because nothing would keep our decedents (or any other intelligence living on Earth by then), to visit Genesis planets in 10-100 million years (the minimal time for the life initially seeded to fully unfold). No, because the involved time spans are so long, that it is not rational to speak of a ‘benefit’.
<figure id="attachment_113601" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-113601" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/12/starshot2-e1476900323550-600x466.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="466" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Project Starshot, an initiative sponsored by the Breakthrough Foundation, is intended to be humanity’s first interstellar voyage. Credit: breakthroughinitiatives.org</figcaption></figure>
<h2>How Soon Could Such a Mission Be Mounted?</h2>
Genesis probes could be launched by the same directed-energy launch system planned for the Breakthrough Starshot initiative. Breakthrough Starshot aims to send very fast, very small, very light probes of about 1 gram to another star system. The same laser technology could send something more massive, but slower. Slow is relative, of course. So the in the end it depends on what is optimal.
The <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/137942/magnetic-sails-slow-interstellar-spacecraft-enough/">magnetic sail paper</a> I recently wrote was a sample mission to show that it was possible. The probe would be about the size of a car (1 tonne) and would travel at a speed of about 1000 km/s – slow for interstellar travel relative to speed of light, but fast for Earth. If you reduce the velocity by a factor of 100, the mass you can propel is 10,000 heavier. You could accelerate a 1-tonne Genesis Probe and it would still fit into the layout of Breakthrough Starshot.
Therefore, the launch facility could see dual use and you wouldn’t need to build something new. Once that is in place one would need to test the magnetic sail. A realistic time span would hence be in the 50-100 years window.
<h2>What Counter-Arguments Are There Against This?</h2>
There are three main lines of counter-arguments. The first is the religious counter-argument, which says that humanity should not play God. The Genesis Project is however not about creating life, but to give life the possibility to further develop. Just not on Earth, but elsewhere in the cosmos.
<figure id="attachment_113602" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-113602" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/12/2-msubiologist-600x376.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="376" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Mars, according to multiple studies, could still support life, raising issues of “planetary protection”. Credit: YONHAP/EPA</figcaption></figure>
The second is the Planetary protection argument, which argues that we should not interfere. Some people objecting to the Genesis Project cite the ‘first directive’ of the Star Trek TV series. The Genesis Project fully supports planetary protection of planets which harbor complex life and of planets on which complex life could potentially develop in the future. The Genesis Project will target only planets on which complex life could not develop on its own.
The third argument is about the lack of benefit to humanity. The Genesis Project is expressively not for human benefit. It is reasonable to argue, from the perspective of survival, that the ethical values of a species (like humanity) has to put the good of the species at the center.  Ethical is therefore “what is good for our own species”. Spending a large amount of money on a project, like the Genesis Project, which is expressively not for the benefit of our own species, would then be unethical.
___
Our thanks go out to Dr. Gros for taking the time to talk to us! We hope to hear more from him in the future and wish him the best of luck with Project Genesis.

Simple life forms, such as bacteria, could proliferate a planet quickly.

The Genesis Project plans to use robots to seed the galaxy with life

Artist’s impression of the exoplanet 51 Pegasi b

Robots & Machines

Robots would life to distant planets in the Genesis Project. Planets that have the potential for life, but haven't given rise to it, would be targets.

The Genesis Project Plans to Use Robots to Seed the Galaxy With Life

There's a plan to send microbial life to habitable alien worlds. 

The number of confirmed extra-solar planets has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years. With every new discovery, the question of when we might be able to explore these planets directly naturally arises. There have been several suggestions so far, ranging from laser-sail driven nanocraft that would travel to Alpha Centauri in just 20 years (<a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/Initiative/3">Breakthrough Starshot</a>) to slower-moving microcraft equipped with a gene laboratories (<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06087.pdf">The Genesis Project</a>).
But when it comes to braking these craft so that they can slow down and study distant stars and orbit planets, things become a bit more complicated. According to a recent study by the very man who conceived of The Genesis Project – Professor Claudius Gros of the <a href="http://www.goethe-university-frankfurt.de/66535442/Forschung_Arbeitsgruppen">Institute for Theoretical Physics Goethe University Frankfurt</a> – special sails that rely on superconductors to generate magnetic fields could be used for just this purpose.
Starshot and Genesis are similar in that both concepts seek to leverage recent advancements in miniaturization. Today, engineers are able to create sensors, thrusters and cameras that are capable of carrying out computations and other functions, but are a fraction of the size of older instruments. And when it comes to propulsion, there are many options, ranging from conventional rockets and ion drives to laser-driven light sails.
<div id="attachment_130459" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_130459" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/starshot2-e1476900323550.jpg"><img class="wp-image-130459 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/starshot2-580x537.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="537" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Project Starshot, an initiative sponsored by the Breakthrough Foundation, is intended to be humanity’s first interstellar voyage. Credit: breakthroughinitiatives.org</figcaption></figure>
</div>
Slowing an interstellar mission down, however, has remained a more significant challenge because such a craft cannot be fitted with braking thrusters and fuel without increasing its weight. To address this, Professor Gros suggests using magnetic sails, which would present numerous advantages over other available methods. As Prof. Gros explained to Universe Today via email:
<blockquote>“Classically, you would equip the spacecraft with rocket engines. Normal rocket engines, as we are using them for launching satellites, can change the velocity only by 5-15 km/s. And even that only when using several stages. That is not enough to slow down a craft flying at 1000 km/s (0.3% c) or 100000 km/s (c/3). Fusion or antimatter drives would help a bit, but not substantially.”</blockquote>
The sail he envisions would consist of a massive superconducting loop that measures about 50 kilometers in diameter, which would create a magnetic field once a lossless current was induced. Once activated, the ionized hydrogen in the interstellar medium would be reflected off the sail’s magnetic field. This would have the effect of transferring the spacecraft’s momentum to the interstellar gas, gradually slowing it down.
According to Gros’ calculations, this would work for slow-travelling sails despite the extremely low particle density of interstellar space, which works out to 0.005 to 0.1 particles per cubic centimeter. “A magnetic sail trades energy consumption with time,” said Gros.”If you turn off the engine of your car and let it roll idle, it will slow down due to friction (air, tires). The magnetic sail does the same, where the friction comes from the interstellar gas.”
<div id="attachment_133179" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_133179" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/AAS_Art.jpg"><img class="wp-image-133179 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/AAS_Art-580x326.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="326" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Artist concept of lightsail craft approaching the potentially habitable exoplanet Proxima b. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo</figcaption></figure>
</div>
One of the advantages of this method is the fact that can be built using existing technology. The key technology behind the magnetic sail is a <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/curloo.html">Biot Savart loop</a> which, when paired with the same kind of superconducting coils used in high-energy physics, would create a powerful magnetic field. Using such a sail, even heavier spacecraft – those that weight up to 1,500 kilograms (1.5 metric tonnes; 3,307 lbs) – could be decelerated from an interstellar voyage.
The one big drawback is the time such a mission would take. Based on Gros’ own calculations, a high speed transit to Proxima Centauri that relied on magnetic momentum braking would require a ship that weighed about 1 million kg (1000 metric tonnes; 1102 tons). However, an interstellar mission involving a 1.5 metric tonne ship would be able to reach TRAPPIST-1 in about 12,000 years. As Gros concludes:
<blockquote>“It takes a long time (because the very low density of the interstellar media). That is bad if you want to see a return (scientific data, exciting pictures) in your lifetime. Magnetic sails work, but only when you are happy to take the (very) long perspective.”</blockquote>
In other words, such a system would not work for a nanocraft like that envisioned by Breakthrough Starshot. As Starshot’s own Dr. Abraham Loeb explained, the main goal of the project is to achieve the dream of interstellar travel within a generation of the ship’s departure. In addition to being the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, Dr. Loeb is also the Chair of the Breakthrough Starshot Advisory Committee.
<div id="attachment_128444" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_128444" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/starshot21.jpg"><img class="wp-image-128444 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/starshot21-580x324.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="324" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A phased laser array, perhaps in the high desert of Chile, propels sails on their journey. Credit: Breakthrough Initiatives</figcaption></figure>
</div>
As he explained to Universe Today via email:
<blockquote>“[Gros] concludes that breaking on the interstellar gas is feasible only at low speeds (less than a fraction of a percent of the speed of light) and even then one needs a sail that is tens of miles wide, weighting tons. The problem is that with such a low speed, the journey to the nearest stars will take over a thousand years.
“The Breakthrough Starshot initiative aims to launch a spacecraft at a fifth of the speed of light so that it will reach the nearest stars within a human lifetime. It is difficult to get people excited about a journey whose completion will not be witnessed by them. But there is a caveat. If the longevity of people could be extended to millennia by genetic engineering, then designs of the type considered by Gros would certainly be more appealing.”</blockquote>
But for missions like The Genesis Project, which Gros originally proposed <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06087.pdf">in 2016</a>, time is not a factor. Such a probe, which would carry single-celled organisms – either encoded in a gene factory or stored as cryogenically-frozen spores – a could take thousands of years to reach a neighboring star system. Once there, it would begin seeding planets that had been identified as “transiently habitable” with single-celled organisms.
For such a mission, travel time is not the all-important factor. What matters is the ability to slow down and establish orbit around a planet. That way, the spacecraft would be able to seed these nearby worlds with terrestrial organisms, which could have the effect of slowly terraforming it in advance of human explorers or settlers.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QZyVrPWZtqQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Given how long it would take for humans to reach even the nearest extra-solar planets, a mission that last a few hundred or a few thousand years is no big deal. In the end, which method we choose to conduct interstellar mission will come down to how much time we’re willing to invest. For the sake of exploration, expedience is the key factor, which means lightweight craft and incredibly high speeds.
But where long-term goals – such as seeding other worlds with life and even terraforming them for human settlement – are concerned, the slow and steady approach is best. One thing is for sure: when these types of missions move from the concept stage to realization, it sure will be exciting to witness!

New technology will allow us to travel further into the universe.

Futuristic “Magnetic Sails” may be the key to interstellar spacecraft

Spacecraft capable of traveling between stars would have to find an efficient and effective way to slow down in order to study bodies at their destination.

“Magnetic Sails” May be the Key to Interstellar Spacecraft

Magnetic fields could open a universe of possibilities. Literally. 

Stellar collisions are an amazingly rare thing. According to our best estimates, such events only occur in our galaxy (within globular clusters) once every 10,000 years. It’s only been recently, thanks to ongoing improvements in instrumentation and technology, that astronomers have been able to observe such mergers taking place. As of yet, no one has ever witnessed this phenomena in action – but that may be about to change!
According to study from a team of researchers from <a href="https://calvin.edu/">Calvin College</a> in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a binary star system that will likely merge and explode in 2022. This is an historic find, since it will allow astronomers to witness a stellar merger and explosion for the first time in history. What’s more, they claim, this explosion will be visible with the naked-eye to observers here on Earth.
The findings were presented at the <a href="https://aas.org/meetings/aas229">229th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society</a> (AAS). In a presentation titled “<a href="https://guidebook.com/guide/85338/event/14967463/">A Precise Prediction of a Stellar Merger and Red Nova Outburst</a>“, Professor Lawrence Molnar and his team shared findings that indicate how this binary pair will merge in about six years time. This event, they claim, will cause an outburst of light so bright that it will become the brightest object in the night sky.
<div id="attachment_132766" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_132766" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/LarryMolnar720x405.jpg"><img class="wp-image-132766 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/LarryMolnar720x405-580x326.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="326" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Professor Lawrence Molnar of the Calvin College’s Dept. of Physics and Astronomy. He predicts KIC 9832227 will collide and explode in 2022. Credit: calvin.edu</figcaption></figure>
</div>
This binary star system, which is known as KIC 9832227, is one that Prof. Molnar and his colleagues – which includes students from the <a href="http://www.apo.nmsu.edu/">Apache Point Observatory</a> and the <a href="http://www.uwyo.edu/">University of Wyoming</a> – have been monitoring since 2013. His interest in the star was piqued during a conference in 2013 when Karen Kinemuchi (an astronomers with the Apache Point Observatory) presented findings about brightness changes in the star.
This led to questions about the nature of this star system – specifically, whether it was a pulsar or a binary pair. After conducting their own observations using the Calvin observatory, Prof. Molnar and his colleagues concluded that the star was a  contact binary – a class of binary star where the two stars are close enough to share an atmosphere. This brought to mind similar research in the past about another binary star system known as V1309 Scorpii.
This binary pair also had a shared atmosphere; and over time, their orbital period kept decreasing until (in 2008) they unexpectedly collided and exploded. Believing that KIC 9832227 would undergo a similar fate, they began conducting tests to see if the star system was exhibiting the same behavior. The first step was to make spectroscopic observations to see if their observations could be explained by the presence of a companion star.
As Cara Alexander, a Calvin College student and one of the co-authors on the team’s <a href="http://www.calvin.edu/academic/phys/observatory/MergingStar/MolnarEtAl2017.pdf">research paper</a>, explained in a college <a href="https://calvin.edu/publication/spark/2016/03/15/the-red-nova-prediction?dotcmsredir=1">press release</a>:
<blockquote>“We had to rule out the possibility of a third star. That would have been a pedestrian, boring explanation. I was processing data from two telescopes and obtained images that showed a signature of our star and no sign of a third star. Then we knew we were looking at the right thing. It took most of the summer to analyze the data, but it was so exciting. To be a part of this research, I don’t know any other place where I would get an opportunity like that; Calvin is an amazing place.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_132765" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_132765" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Cygnus-KIC9832227-e1483705807860.gif"><img class="wp-image-132765 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Cygnus-KIC9832227-e1483705807860-580x405.gif" alt="" width="580" height="405" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Diagram showing the summer constellations of Cygnus and Lyra and the position of KIC 9832227 (shown with a red circle). Credit: calvin.edu</figcaption></figure>
</div>
The next step was to measure the pair’s orbital period, to see it was in fact getting shorter over time – which would indicate that the stars were moving closer to each other. By 2015, Prof. Molnar and his team determined that the stars would eventually collide, resulting in a kind of stellar explosion known as a “Red Nova”. Initially, they estimated this would take place between 2018 and 2020, but have since placed the date at 2022.
In addition, they predict that the burst of light it will cause will be bright enough to be seen from Earth. The star will be visible as part of the constellation Cygnus, and it appear as an addition star in the familiar Northern Cross star pattern (see above). This is an historic case, since no astronomer has ever been able to accurately predict when and where a stellar collision would take place in the past.
What’s more, this discovery is immensely significant because it represents a break with the traditional discovery process. Not only have small research institutions and universities not been the ones to take the lead on these sorts of discoveries in the past, but student-and-teacher teams have also not been the ones who got to make them. As Molnar <a href="https://calvin.edu/publication/spark/2016/03/15/the-red-nova-prediction?dotcmsredir=1">explained it</a>:
<blockquote>“Most big scientific projects are done in enormous groups with thousands of people and billions of dollars. This project is just the opposite. It’s been done using a small telescope, with one professor and a few students looking for something that is not likely. Nobody has ever predicted a nova explosion before. Why pay someone to do something that almost certainly won’t succeed? It’s a high-risk proposal. But at Calvin it’s only my risk, and I can use my work on interesting, open-ended questions to bring extra excitement into my classroom. Some projects still have an advantage when you don’t have as much time or money.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_132767" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_132767" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/KIC-9832227-2-orientations-e1483705350405.jpg"><img class="wp-image-132767 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/KIC-9832227-2-orientations-e1483705350405-580x249.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="249" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The model Prof. Molnar and his team constructed of the double star system KIC 9832227, which is a contact binary (i.e. two stars that are touching). Credit: calvin.edu.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
Over the course of the year, Molnar and his colleagues will be monitoring KIC 9832227 carefully, and in multiple wavelengths. This will be done with the help of the NROA’s <a href="http://www.vla.nrao.edu/">Very Large Array</a> (VLA), NASA’s <a href="http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/">Infrared Telescope Facility</a> at Mauna Kea, and the ESA’s <a href="http://sci.esa.int/xmm-newton/">XMM-Newton spacecraft</a>. These observatories will study the star’s radio, infrared and X-ray emissions, respectively.
Molnar also expects that amateur astronomers will be able to monitor the pair’s orbital timing and variations in brightness. And if he and his team’s predictions are correct, every student and stargazer in the northern hemisphere – not to mention people who just happen to be out for a walk – will be privy to the amazing light show. This is sure to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, so stay tuned for more information.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8yYZGOk-oaw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Interestingly enough, this historic discovery is also the subject of a documentary film. Titled “<a href="http://luminous-film.com/contact/">Luminous</a>“, the documentary – which is directed by Sam Smartt, a Calvin professor of communication arts and sciences – chronicles the process that led Prof. Molnar and his team to make this unprecedented discovery. The documentary will also include footage of the Red Nova as it happens in 2022, and is expected to be released sometime in 2023.

It will be so bright, you won't even need a telescope.

Exploding binary stars will light up the sky in 2022

Hard Science

In 2022, a binary star system is scheduled to collide, the resulting explosion will be so luminous that we will be able to see it here on Earth.

Exploding Binary Stars Will Light up the Sky in 2022

In three years, we are going to get a remarkable show. 

Every planet in the Solar System has its own peculiar orbit, and these vary considerably. Whereas planet Earth takes 365.25 days to complete a single orbit about our Sun, Mars takes almost twice as long – 686.971 days. Then you have Jupiter and the other gas giants, which take between 11.86 and 164.8 years to orbit our Sun. But even with these serving as examples, astronomers were not prepared for what they found when they looked at <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1624a/">CVSO 30</a>.
This star system, which lies some 1200 light years from Earth, has been found in recent years to have two candidate <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/39673/extrasolar-planets/">exoplanets</a>. These planets, which are many times the mass of Jupiter, were discovered by an international team of astronomers using both the Transit Method and Direct Imaging. And what they found was very interesting: one planet has an orbital period of less than 11 days while the other takes a whopping 27,000 years to orbit its parent star!
In addition to being a big surprise, the detection of these two planets using different methods was an historic achievement. Up until now, the vast majority of the over <a href="http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/">2,000 exoplanets discovered</a> have been detected thanks to indirect methods. These include the aforementioned Transit Method, which detects planets by measuring the dimming effect they cause when crossing their parent star’s path, and the Radial Velocity Method, which measures the gravitational effect planets have on their parent star.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J2r1dU4xK1k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In 2012, astronomers used the Transit Method to detect CVSO 30b, a planet with 5 to 6 times the mass of Jupiter, and which orbits its star at a distance of only 1.2 million kilometers (by comparison, Mercury orbits our Sun at a distance of 58 million kilometers). From these characteristics, CVSO 30b can be described as a particularly “hot-Jupiter”.
In contrast, Direct Imaging has been used to spot only a few dozen exoplanets. The reason for this is because it is typically quite difficult to detect the light reflected by a planet’s atmosphere due it being drowned out by the light of its parent star. It can also be quite demanding when it comes to the instrument involved. Still, compared to indirect methods, it can be more effective when it comes to exploring the remote regions of a star.
Thanks to the efforts of an international team of astronomers, who combined the use of the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, the ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, and the Spanish National Research Council’s (CSIC) Calar Alto Observatory, CVSO 30c was spotted in remote regions around its parent star, orbiting at a distance of around 666 AU.
The details of the discovery were published in a paper titled &#8220;<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.05315">Direct Imaging discovery of a second planet candidate around the possibly transiting planet host CVSO 30</a>&#8220;. In it, the researchers – who hail from such prestigious institutions as the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the Jena Observatory, the European Space Agency and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy – explained the methods used to find the exoplanet, and the significance of its discovery.
<figure id="attachment_129809" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-129809 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CV30_interior-e1467997580507-580x223.png" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CV30_interior-e1467997580507-580x223.png 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CV30_interior-e1467997580507-250x96.png 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CV30_interior-e1467997580507-768x295.png 768w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CV30_interior-e1467997580507.png 948w" alt="Detection methods that revealed new planets." width="580" height="223" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The star CVSO30, showing the two detection methods that revealed its exoplanet candidates. Credit: Keck Observatory/ESO/VLT/NACO</figcaption></figure>
As Tobias Schmidt – of the University of Hamburg, the Astrophysical Institute and University Observatory Jena, and the lead author of the paper – told Universe Today via email:
<blockquote>“[30b and 30c] are both unusual on their own. CVSO 30b is the first transiting planet around a star as young as 2.5 million years. Published in 2012, all previously detected transiting planets were older than few hundred million years… It has been a surprise to find a planetary mass companion at 662 AU, or 662 times the distance from Earth to the Sun, from a primary star having only about 0.4 solar masses. According to the standard model, planets form in disks around the star. But none of the observed disks around such low-mass stars is large enough to form such an object.”</blockquote>
In other words, it is surprising to find two exoplanet candidates with several times the mass of Jupiter (aka. Super-Jupiters) orbiting a star as small as CVSO 30. But to find two exoplanets with such a disparity in terms of their respective distance from their star (despite being similar in mass) was particularly surprising.
Relying on high-contrast photometric and spectroscopic observations from the Very Large Telescope, the Keck telescopes and the Calar Alto observatory, the international team was able to spot 30c using a technique known as lucky imaging. This process, which is used by ground-based telescopes, involves many high-speed, quick exposure photos being taken to minimize atmospheric interference.
<figure id="attachment_108526" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-108526 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brown_Dwarf_HD_29587_B-580x330.png" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brown_Dwarf_HD_29587_B-580x330.png 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brown_Dwarf_HD_29587_B-250x142.png 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brown_Dwarf_HD_29587_B-1024x584.png 1024w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Brown_Dwarf_HD_29587_B.png 1280w" alt="T-type brown dwarf planet with a purple tinge floating in space" width="580" height="330" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">An artist&#8217;s conception of a T-type brown dwarf. Credit: Tyrogthekreeper/Wikimedia Commons.</figcaption></figure>
What they found was an exoplanet with a wide orbit that was between 4 and 5 Jupiter masses, and was also very young – less than 10 million years old. What’s more, the spectroscopic data indicated that it is unusually blue for a planet, as most other planet candidates of its kind are very red. The researchers concluded from this that it is likely that 30c is the first young planet of its kind to be directly imaged.
They further concluded that 30 c is also likely the first “L-T transition object” younger than 10 million years to be found orbiting a star. L-T transition objects are a type of brown dwarf – objects that are too large to be considered planets, but too small to be considered stars. Typically they are found embedded in large clouds of gas and dust, or on their own in space.
Paired with its companion – 30 b, which is impossibly close to its parent star – 30 c is not believed to have formed at its current position, and is likely not stable in the long-term. At least, not where current models of planetary formation and orbit are concerned. However, as Prof. Schmidt indicated, this offers a potential explanation for the odd nature of these exoplanets.
“We do think this is a very good hint,” he said, “that the two objects might have formed regularly around the star at a separation comparable to Jupiter or Saturn’s separation from the Sun, then interacted gravitationally and were scattered to their current orbits. However this is still speculation, further investigations will try to prove this. Both have about the same mass of few Jupiter masses, the inner one might be even lower.” 

<figure id="attachment_115981" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-115981 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VLTI-580x386.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VLTI-580x386.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VLTI-250x166.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VLTI-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VLTI.jpg 1280w" alt="The Very Large Telescope firing a laser into space." width="580" height="386" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Very Large Telescoping Interferometer firing its adaptive optics laser. Credit: ESO/G. Hüdepohl</figcaption></figure>
The discovery is also significant since it was the first time that these two detection methods – Transit and Direct Imaging – were used to confirm exoplanet candidates around the same star. In this case, the methods were quite complimentary, and present opportunities to learn more about exoplanets. As Professor Schmidt explained:
<blockquote>“Both Transit method and radial velocity method have problems finding planets around young stars, as the activity of young stars is disturbing the search for them. CVSO 30 b was the first very young planet found with these methods, currently a hand full of candidates exist. Direct imaging, on the other hand, is working best for young planets as they still contract and are thus self-luminous. It is therefore great luck that a far out planet was found around the very first young star hosting a inner planet… 

“However, the real advantage of transit and direct imaging methods is that the two objects can now be investigated in greater detail. While we can use the direct light from the imaging for spectroscopy, i.e. split the light according to its wavelength, we hope to achieve the same for the inner planet candidate. This is possible as the light passes through the atmosphere of the planet during transits and some of the elements are absorbed by the composition material of the atmosphere. So we do hope to learn a lot about planet formation, thus also formation of the early Solar System and about young planets in particular from the CVSO 30 system.”</blockquote>
Since astronomers first began began to find exoplanet candidates in distant star systems, we have come to learn just how diverse our Universe really is. Many of the discoveries have challenged our notions about where planets can form around their parent star, while others have showed us that planets can take many different forms.
As time goes on and our exploration of the local Universe advances, we will be challenged to find explanations for how it all fits together. And from that, new and more comprehensive models will no doubt emerge.

"We do hope to learn a lot about young planets in particular from the CVSO 30 system."

There's a planet with a 27,000 year orbit, and that's just the beginning

An exoplanet in the star system CVSO 30 has an orbit of 27,000 years. The planet was discovered using direct imaging and the transit method.

There's a Planet With a 27,000 Year Orbit, and That's Just the Beginning

This is one of the strangest worlds we've ever found. 

There’s a Planet With a 27,000 Year Orbit, and That’s Just the Beginning

We all want there to be aliens. Green ones, pink ones, brown ones, Greys. Or maybe Vulcans, Klingons, even a being of pure energy. Any type will do.
That’s why whenever a mysterious signal or energetic fluctuation arrives from somewhere in the cosmos and hits one of our many telescopes, headlines erupt across the media: “Have We Finally Detected An Alien Signal?” or “Have Astronomers Discovered An <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiLDYM2Asx4">Alien Megastructure</a>?” But science-minded people know that we’re probably getting ahead of ourselves.
Skepticism still rules the day when it comes to these headlines, and the events that spawn them. That’s the way it should be, because we’ve always found a more prosaic reason for whatever signal from space we’re talking about. But, being skeptical is a balancing act; it doesn’t mean being dismissive.
What we’re talking about here is a <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.03031">study</a> from E.F. Borra and E. Trottier, two astronomers at Laval University in Canada. Their study, titled “Discovery of peculiar periodic spectral modulations in a small fraction of solar type stars” was published in the <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1538-3873">Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific</a>.
The two astronomers used data from the <a href="http://classic.sdss.org/">Sloan Digital Sky Survey</a>, and analyzed the spectra of 2.5 million stars. Of all those stars, they found 234 stars that are producing a puzzling signal. That’s only a tiny percentage. And, they say, these signals “have exactly the shape of an ETI signal” that was predicted in a previous study by Borra.
<div id="attachment_131564" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_131564" style="width: 670px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-131564 size-full" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/sloan-data.png" alt="A portion of the 234 stars that are sources of the pulsed ETI-like signal. Note that all the stars are in the narrow spectral range F2 to K1, very similar to our own Sun. Image: Ermanno F. Borra and Eric Trottier " width="670" height="313" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A portion of the 234 stars that are sources of the pulsed ETI-like signal. Note that all the stars are in the narrow spectral range F2 to K1, very similar to our own Sun. Image: Ermanno F. Borra and Eric Trottier</figcaption></figure>
</div>
Prediction is a key part of the scientific method. If you develop a theory, your theory looks better and better the more you can use it to correctly predict some future events based on it. Look how many times Einstein’s predictions based on Relativity have been proven correct.
The 234 stars in Borra and Trottier’s study aren’t random. They’re “overwhelmingly in the F2 to K1 spectral range” according to the abstract. That’s significant because this is a small range centred around the spectrum of our own Sun. And our own Sun is the only one we know of that has an intelligent species living near it. If ours does, maybe others do too?
The authors acknowledge five potential causes of their findings: instrumental and data reduction effects, rotational transitions in molecules, the Fourier transform of spectral lines, rapid pulsations, and finally the ETI signal predicted by <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-6256/144/6/181">Borra (2012)</a>. They dismiss molecules or pulsations as causes, and they deem it highly unlikely that the signals are caused by the Fourier analysis itself. This leaves two possible sources for the detected signals. Either they’re a result of the Sloan instrument itself and the data reduction, or they are in fact a signal from extra-terrestrial intelligences.
<div id="attachment_131565" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_131565" style="width: 589px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-131565 size-full" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Star-by-Spectral-Type.png" alt="This graph shows the number of detected signals by Spectral Type of star. Image: Ermanno F. Borra and Eric Trottier " width="589" height="289" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">This graph shows the number of detected signals by Spectral Type of star. Image: Ermanno F. Borra and Eric Trottier</figcaption></figure>
</div>
The detected signals are pulses of light separated by a constant time interval. These types of signals were predicted by Borra in his 2012 paper, and they are what he and Trottier set out to find in the Sloan data. It may be a bit of a red flag when scientist’s find the very thing they predicted they would find. But Trottier and Borra are circumspect about their own results.
As the authors say in their paper, “Although unlikely, there is also a possibility that the signals are due to highly peculiar chemical compositions in a small fraction of galactic halo stars.” It may be unlikely, but lots of discoveries seem unlikely at first. Maybe there is a tiny subset of stars with chemical peculiarities that make them act in this way.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vHMIv_zAbrM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
To sum it all up, the two astronomers have found a tiny number of stars, very similar to our own Sun, that seem to be the source of pulsed signals. These signals are the same as predicted if a technological society was using powerful lasers to communicate with distant stars.
We all want there to be aliens, and maybe the first sign of them will be pulsed light signals from stars like our own Sun. But it’s all still very preliminary, and as the authors acknowledge, “…at this stage, this hypothesis needs to be confirmed with further work.”
That further work is already being planned by the <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/">Breakthrough Listen Initiative</a>, a project that searches for intelligent life in the cosmos. They plan to use the <a href="https://www.ucolick.org/public/telescopes/apf.html">Automated Planet Finder telescope </a>at the <a href="https://mthamilton.ucolick.org/">Lick Observatory</a> to further observe some of Borra’s 234 stars.
The Breakthrough team don’t seem that excited about Borra’s findings. They’ve already poured cold water on it, trotting out the old axiom that “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” in a <a href="https://seti.berkeley.edu/bl_sdss_seti_2016.pdf">statement</a> on Borra’s paper. They also give Borra’s findings a score of 0 to 1 on the <a href="http://archive.seti.org/epo/news/features/rio-scale.php">Rio Scale</a>. The Rio Scale is something used by the international SETI community to rank detections of phenomena that could indicate advanced life beyond Earth. A rating of 0 to 1 means its insignificant.
Better reign in the headline writers.

Let's hold off on the alien search parties for now.

Either stars are strange, or 234 alien species are trying to contact us

Scientists have seen peculiar behavior from a small percentage of stars. This may be evidence of alien communication or just a new natural phenomenon.

Either Stars are Strange, or 234 Alien Species Are Trying to Contact Us

The answer seems obvious. 

Mars is not exactly a friendly place for life as we know it. While temperatures at the equator can reach as high as a balmy 35 °C (95 °F) in the summer at midday, the average temperature on the surface is -63 °C (-82 °F), and can reach as low as -143 °C (-226 °F) during winter in the polar regions. Its atmospheric pressure is about one-half of one percent of Earth’s, and the surface is exposed to a considerable amount of radiation.
Until now, no one was certain if microorganisms could survive in this extreme environment. But thanks to a <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-11-biologists-microorganisms-mars.html">new study</a> by a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.msu.ru/en/">Lomonosov Moscow State University</a> (LMSU), we may now be able to place constraints on what kinds of conditions microorganisms can withstand. This study could therefore have significant implications in the hunt for life elsewhere in the Solar System, and maybe even beyond!
The study, titled “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00792-017-0966-7">100 kGy gamma-affected microbial communities within the ancient Arctic permafrost under simulated Martian conditions</a>“, recently appeared in the scientific journal Extremophiles. The research team, which was led by Vladimir S. Cheptsov of LMSU, included members from the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, the Kurchatov Institute and Ural Federal University.
<div id="attachment_131992" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_131992" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/Mars_atmosphere-1.jpg"><img class="wp-image-131992 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/Mars_atmosphere-1-580x462.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="462" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image taken by the Viking 1 orbiter in June 1976, showing Mars thin atmosphere and dusty, red surface. Credits: NASA/Viking 1</figcaption></figure>
</div>
For the sake of their study, the research team hypothesized that temperature and pressure conditions would not be the mitigating factors, but rather radiation. As such, they conducted tests where microbial communities contained within simulated Martian regolith were then irradiated. The simulated regolith consisted of sedimentary rocks that contained permafrost, which were then subjected to low temperature and low pressure conditions.
As Vladimir S. Cheptsov, a post-graduate student at the Lomonosov MSU Department of Soil Biology and a co-author on the paper, explained in a LMSU <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-11-biologists-microorganisms-mars.html">press statement</a>:
<blockquote>“We have studied the joint impact of a number of physical factors (gamma radiation, low pressure, low temperature) on the microbial communities within ancient Arctic permafrost. We also studied a unique nature-made object—the ancient permafrost that has not melted for about 2 million years. In a nutshell, we have conducted a simulation experiment that covered the conditions of cryo-conservation in Martian regolith. It is also important that in this paper, we studied the effect of high doses (100 kGy) of gamma radiation on prokaryotes’ vitality, while in previous studies no living prokaryotes were ever found after doses higher than 80 kGy.”</blockquote>
To simulate Martian conditions, the team used an original constant climate chamber, which maintained the low temperature and atmospheric pressure. They then exposed the microorganisms to varying levels of gamma radiation. What they found was that the microbial communities showed high resistance to the temperature and pressure conditions in the simulated Martian environment.
<div id="attachment_62932" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_62932" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Spirit-Embedded-in-Soft-Soil-on-Mars-as-Engineers-Devise-Methods-to-Free-Spirit.jpg"><img class="wp-image-62932 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Spirit-Embedded-in-Soft-Soil-on-Mars-as-Engineers-Devise-Methods-to-Free-Spirit-580x435.jpg" alt="Spirit Embedded in Soft Soil on Mars" width="580" height="435" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image of Martian soils, where the Spirit mission embedded itself. Credit: NASA/JPL</figcaption></figure>
</div>
However, after they began irradiating the microbes, they noticed several differences between the irradiated sample and the control sample. Whereas the total count of prokaryotic cells and the number of metabolically active bacterial cells remained consistent with control levels, the number of irradiated bacteria decreased by two orders of magnitude while the number of metabolically active cells of archaea also decreased threefold.
The team also noticed that within the exposed sample of permafrost, there was a high biodiversity of bacteria, and this bacteria underwent a significant structural change after it was irradiated. For instance, populations of actinobacteria like Arthrobacter – a common genus found in soil – were not present in the control samples, but became predominant in the bacterial communities that were exposed.
In short, these results indicated that microorganisms on Mars are more survivable than previously thought. In addition to being able to survive the cold temperatures and low atmospheric pressure, they are also capable of surviving the kinds of radiation conditions that are common on the surface. As Cheptsov <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-11-biologists-microorganisms-mars.html">explained</a>:
<blockquote>“The results of the study indicate the possibility of prolonged cryo-conservation of viable microorganisms in the Martian regolith. The intensity of ionizing radiation on the surface of Mars is 0.05-0.076 Gy/year and decreases with depth. Taking into account the intensity of radiation in the Mars regolith, the data obtained makes it possible to assume that hypothetical Mars ecosystems could be conserved in an anabiotic state in the surface layer of regolith (protected from UV rays) for at least 1.3 million years, at a depth of two meters for no less than 3.3 million years, and at a depth of five meters for at least 20 million years. The data obtained can also be applied to assess the possibility of detecting viable microorganisms on other objects of the solar system and within small bodies in outer space.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_137298" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_137298" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/mars-rover-rendering-800.jpg"><img class="wp-image-137298 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/mars-rover-rendering-800-580x326.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="326" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Future missions could determine the presence of past life on Mars by looking for signs of extreme bacteria. Credit: NASA.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
This study was significant for multiple reasons. On the one hand, the authors were able to prove for the first time that prokaryote bacteria can survive radiation does in excess of 80 kGy – something which was previously thought to be impossible. They also demonstrated that despite its tough conditions, microorganisms could still be alive on Mars today, preserved in its permafrost and soil.
The study also demonstrates the importance of considering both extraterrestrial and cosmic factors when considering where and under what conditions living organisms can survive. Last, but not least, this study has done something no previous study has, which is define the limits of radiation resistance for microorganisms on Mars – specifically within regolith and at various depths.
This information will be invaluable for future missions to Mars and other locations in the Solar System, and perhaps even with the study of exoplanets. Knowing the kind of conditions in which life will thrive will help us to determine where to look for signs of it. And when preparing missions to other words, it will also let scientists know what locations to avoid so that contamination of indigenous ecosystems can be prevented.

Biologists just proved how long life can survive on Mars, and it's longer than we thought

A team of researchers simulated the harsh conditions of Mars on a group of microorganisms. These organisms showed a high resistance to the conditions.

Life Can Survive on Mars Far, Far Longer Than We Thought

It’s millions and millions of years.

Since the deployment of the <a href="http://hubblesite.org/">Hubble Space Telescope</a>, astronomers have been able to look deeper into the cosmic web than ever before. The farther they’ve looked, the deeper back in time they are able to see, and thus learn what the Universe looked like billions of years ago. With the deployment of other cutting-edge telescopes and observatories, scientists have been able to learn a great deal more about the history and evolution of the cosmos.
Most recently, an international team of astronomers using the <a href="http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/telescopes-and-sites">Gemini North Telescope</a> in Hawaii were able to spot a spiral galaxy located <a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/latest-news/2017/11/the-most-ancient-spiral-galaxy-confirmed-using-cutting-edge-technique.php">11 billion light years away</a>. Thanks to a new technique that combined gravitational lensing and spectrography, they were able to see an object that existed just 2.6 billion years after the Big Bang. This makes this spiral galaxy, known as A1689B11, the oldest and most distant spiral galaxy spotted to date.
The study which details the team’s findings, titled “<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1710.11130.pdf">The most ancient spiral galaxy: a 2.6-Gyr-old disk with a tranquil velocity field</a>“, recently appeared in The Astrophysical Journal. The team consisted of members from the Swinburne University of Technology, the <a href="http://astro3d.org.au/">Australian Research Council Center of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics in 3D</a> (ASTRO 3D), the University of Lyon, Princeton University, and the <a href="http://www.phys.huji.ac.il/">Racah Institute of Physics</a> at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
<div id="attachment_137765" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_137765" style="width: 575px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/themostancie.jpg"><img class="wp-image-137765 size-full" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/themostancie.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="360" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Spiral galaxy A1689B11 sits behind a massive cluster of galaxies that acts as a lens, producing two magnified images of the spiral galaxy in different positions in the sky. Credit: James Josephides</figcaption></figure>
</div>
Together, the team relied on the gravitational lensing technique to spot A1689B11. This technique has become a mainstay for astronomers, and involves using a large object (like a galaxy cluster) to bend and magnify the light of a galaxy located behind it. As Dr. Tiantian Yuan, a Swinburne astronomer and the lead author on the research study, explained in a Swinburne <a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/latest-news/2017/11/the-most-ancient-spiral-galaxy-confirmed-using-cutting-edge-technique.php">press statement</a>:
<blockquote>
“This technique allows us to study ancient galaxies in high resolution with unprecedented detail. We are able to look 11 billion years back in time and directly witness the formation of the first, primitive spiral arms of a galaxy.”
</blockquote>
They then used the <a href="http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/nifs/">Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph</a> (NIFS) on the Gemini North telescope to verify the structure and nature of this spiral galaxy. This instrument was built Peter McGregor of The Australian National University (ANU), which now is responsible for maintaining it. Thanks to this latest discovery, astronomers now have some additional clues as to how galaxies took on the forms that we are familiar with today.
Based on the classification scheme developed by famed astronomer Edwin Hubble (the “<a href="https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic9902o/">Hubble Sequence</a>“), galaxies are divides into 3 broad classes based on their shapes – ellipticals, lenticulars and spirals – with a fourth category reserved for “irregularly-shaped” galaxies. In accordance with this scheme, galaxies start out as elliptical structures before branching off to become spiraled, lenticular, or irregular.
<figure id="attachment_110143" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-110143" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/Hubble_sequence_photo.png" alt="" width="800" height="443" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A figure illustrating the Hubble sequence, showing elliptical galaxies (left) and evolving to fit the three broad categories (right) of ellipticals, lenticulars and spirals. Credit: Ville Koistinen</figcaption></figure>
As such, the discovery of such an ancient spiral galaxy is crucial to determining when and how the earliest galaxies began changing from being elliptical to taking on their modern forms. As Dr Renyue Cen, an astronomer from Princeton University and a co-author on the study, says:
<blockquote>
“Studying ancient spirals like A1689B11 is a key to unlocking the mystery of how and when the Hubble sequence emerges. Spiral galaxies are exceptionally rare in the early Universe, and this discovery opens the door to investigating how galaxies transition from highly chaotic, turbulent discs to tranquil, thin discs like those of our own Milky Way galaxy.”
</blockquote>
On top of that, this study showed that the A1689B11 spiral galaxy has some surprising features which could also help inform (and challenge) our understanding of this period in cosmic history. As Dr. Yuan explained, these features are in stark contrast to galaxies as they exist today. But equally interesting is the fact that it also differentiates this spiral galaxy from other galaxies that are similar in age.
“This galaxy is forming stars 20 times faster than galaxies today – as fast as other young galaxies of similar masses in the early Universe,” said Dr. Yuan. “However, unlike other galaxies of the same epoch, A1689B11 has a very cool and thin disc, rotating calmly with surprisingly little turbulence. This type of spiral galaxy has never been seen before at this early epoch of the Universe!”
<div id="attachment_130519" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<figure id="attachment_130519" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/HFF.jpg"><img class="wp-image-130519 size-medium" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/HFF-580x435.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="435" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Illustration of the depth by which Hubble imaged galaxies in prior Deep Field initiatives, in units of the Age of the Universe. Credit: NASA and A. Feild (STScI)</figcaption></figure>
Illustration of the depth by which Hubble imaged galaxies in prior Deep Field initiatives, in units of the Age of the Universe. Credit: NASA and A. Feild (STScI)
</div>
In the future, the team hopes to conduct further studies of this galaxy to further resolve its structure and nature, and to compare it to other spiral galaxies from this epoch. Of particular interest to them is when the onset of spiral arms takes place, which should serve as a sort of boundary marker between ancient elliptical galaxies and modern spiral, lenticular and irregular shapes.
They will continue to rely on the NIFS to conduct these studies, but the team also hopes to rely on data collected by the <a href="https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/">James Webb Space Telescope</a> (which will be launched in 2019). These and other surveys in the coming years are expected to reveal vital information about the earliest galaxies in the Universe, and reveal further clues as to how it changed over time.

It was around just 2.6 billion years after the Big Bang.

Astronomers just discovered the oldest galaxy in the known universe

Gravitational lensing has allowed scientists to see deeper into the universe than ever before. We have now spotted the oldest known galaxy.

A New Technique Just Helped Astronomers Uncover the Oldest Galaxy in the Known Universe

It's a staggering 11 billion years old. 

<h2>Measuring the Milky Way</h2>
Since the 18th century, astronomers have been aware that our Solar System is embedded in a vast disk of stars and gas known as the <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/106062/what-is-the-milky-way-2/">Milky Way Galaxy</a>. Since that time, the greatest scientific minds have been attempting to obtain accurate distance measurements in order to determine just how large the Milky Way is. This has been no easy task, since the fact that we are embedded in our galaxy’s disk means that we cannot view it head-on.
But thanks to a time-tested technique called trigonometric parallax, a team of astronomers from the <a href="http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/2169/en">Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy</a> (MPIfR) in Bonn, Germany, and the <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/">Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics</a> (CfA) were recently able to directly measure the distance to the <a href="http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2017/9">opposite side of the Milky Way Galaxy</a>. Aside from being an historic first, this feat has nearly doubled the previous record for distance measurements within our galaxy.
<figure id="attachment_109374" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109374" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/Artists_impression_of_the_Milky_Way_updated_-_annotated-700x432-600x370.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="370" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Artist&#8217;s impression of the spiral structure of the Milky Way with two major stellar arms and a bar. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO/R. Hurt</figcaption></figure>
The study which described this accomplishment, titled “<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1710.06489.pdf">Mapping Spiral Structure on the far side of the Milky Way</a>“, recently appeared in the journal Science. Led by Alberto Sanna, a researcher from the <a href="http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/2169/en">Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy</a>, the team consulted data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s <a href="https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vlba/">Very Long Baseline Array</a> (VLBA) to determine the distance to a star-forming region on the other side of our galaxy.
To do this, the team relied on a technique first applied by Freidrich Wilhelm Bessel in 1838 to measure the distance to the star 61 Cygni. Known as trigonometric parallax, this technique involves viewing an object from opposite sides of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, and then measuring the angle of the object’s apparent shift in position. In this way, astronomers are able to use simple trigonometry to calculate the distance to that object.
<figure id="attachment_109373" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109373" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/standard_sans_both-600x337.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="337" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Artist’s view of the Milky Way with the location of the Sun and the star forming region at the opposite side in the Scutum-Centaurus spiral arm. Credit: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF; Robert Hurt, NASA.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>More Accurate Measurements</h2>
In short, the smaller the measured angle, the greater the distance to the object. These measurements were performed using data from the <a href="http://bessel.vlbi-astrometry.org/">Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy</a> (BeSSeL) Survey, which was named in honor of Freidrich Wilhelm Bessel. But whereas Bessel and his contemporaries were forced to measure parallax using basic instruments, the VLBA has ten dish antennas distributed across North America, Hawaii, and the Caribbean.
With such an array at its disposal, the VLBA is capable of measuring parallaxes with one thousand times the accuracy of those performed by astronomers in Bessel’s time. And rather than being confined to nearby star systems, the VLBA is capable of measuring the minuscule angles associated with vast cosmological distances. As Sanna explained in a recent MPIfR <a href="http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2017/9">press release</a>:
<blockquote>“Using the VLBA, we now can accurately map the whole extent of our Galaxy. Most of the stars and gas in our Galaxy are within this newly-measured distance from the Sun. With the VLBA, we now have the capability to measure enough distances to accurately trace the Galaxy’s spiral arms and learn their true shapes.”</blockquote>
The VLBA observations, which were conducted in 2014 and 2015, measured the distance to the star-forming region known as G007.47+00.05. Like all star-forming regions, this one contains molecules of water and methanol, which act as natural amplifiers of radio signals. This results in masers (the radio-wave equivalent of lasers), an effect that makes the radios appear bright and readily observable with radio telescopes.
<figure id="attachment_109372" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109372" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/VLBAParallax_nrao-600x411.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="411" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">With parallax technique, astronomers observe object at opposite ends of Earth’s orbit around the Sun to precisely measure its distance. Credit: Alexandra Angelich, NRAO/AUI/NSF.</figcaption></figure>
This particular region is located over 66,000 light years from Earth and at on opposite side of the Milky Way, relative to our Solar System. The previous record for a parallax measurement was about 36,000 light-years, roughly 11,000 light years farther than the distance between our Solar System and the center of our galaxy. As Sanna <a href="http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2017/9">explained</a>, this accomplishment in radio astronomy will enable surveys that reach much farther than previous ones:
<blockquote>“Most of the stars and gas in our Galaxy are within this newly-measured distance from the Sun. With the VLBA, we now have the capability to measure enough distances to accurately trace the Galaxy’s spiral arms and learn their true shapes.”</blockquote>
<h2>Cosmic Mileposts</h2>
Hundreds of star-forming regions exist within the Milky Way. But as Karl Menten – a member of the MPIfR and a co-author on the study – explained, this study was significant because of where this one is located. “So we have plenty of ‘mileposts’ to use for our mapping project,” he said. “But this one is special: Looking all the way through the Milky Way, past its center, way out into the other side.”
<figure id="attachment_109371" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109371" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/Milky-Way-summer-June-20-Bob-King-600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The band of light (the Milky Way) that is visible in the night sky, showing the stellar disk of our galaxy. Credit: Bob King</figcaption></figure>
In the coming years, Sanna and his colleagues hope to conduct additional observations of G007.47+00.05 and other distant star-forming regions of the Milky Way. Ultimately, the goal is to gain a complete understanding of our galaxy, one that is so accurate that scientists will be able to finally place precise constraints on its size, mass, and its total number of stars.
With the necessary tools now in hand, Sanna and his team even estimate that a complete picture of the Milky Way could be available in about ten years time. Imagine that! Future generations will be able to study the Milky Way with the same ease as one that is located nearby, and which they can view edge-on. At long last, all those artist’s impression of our Milky Way will be to scale!

"We have plenty of 'mileposts' to use for our mapping project, but this one is special."

Astronomers have begun mapping the structure of the far side of the Milky Way

Measuring the Milky Way is no easy task. Since we're embedded in our galaxy’s disk, we're not able to view it head-on.

A clear picture of our corner of the cosmos is within reach. 

Astronomers Have Begun Mapping the Structure of the Far Side of the Milky Way

<h2>X3 Hall-effect</h2>
When it comes to the future of space exploration, a number of new technologies are being investigated. Foremost among these are new forms of propulsion that will be able to balance fuel-efficiency with power. Not only would engines that are capable of achieving a great deal of thrust using less fuel be cost-effective, they will be able to ferry astronauts to destinations like Mars and beyond in less time.
This is where engines like the X3 Hall-effect thruster comes into play. This thruster, which is being developed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in conjunction with the US Air Force and the University of Michigan, is a scaled-up model of the kinds of thrusters used by the <a href="https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/">Dawn spacecraft</a>. During a <a href="http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/25192-thruster-for-mars-mission-breaks-records">recent test</a>, this thruster shattered the previous record for a Hall-effect thruster, achieving higher power and superior thrust.
Hall-effect thrusters have garnered favor with mission planners in recent years because of their extreme efficiency. They function by turning small amounts of propellant (usually inert gases like xenon) into charged plasma with electrical fields, which is then accelerated very quickly using a magnetic field. Compared to chemical rockets, they can achieve top speeds using a tiny fraction of their fuel.
However, a major challenge so far has been building a Hall-effect thruster that is capable of achieving high levels of thrust as well. While fuel efficient, conventional ion engines typically produce only a fraction of the thrust produced by rockets that rely on solid-chemical propellants. Hence why NASA has been developing the scaled-up model X3 thruster in conjunction with its partners.
The development of the thruster has been overseen by Alec Gallimore, a professor of aerospace engineering and the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan. As he indicated in a recent Michigan News <a href="http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/25192-thruster-for-mars-mission-breaks-records">press statement</a>:
<blockquote>“Mars missions are just on the horizon, and we already know that Hall thrusters work well in space. They can be optimized either for carrying equipment with minimal energy and propellant over the course of a year or so, or for speed—carrying the crew to Mars much more quickly.”</blockquote>
<h2>New Records</h2>
In recent tests, the X3 shattered the previous thrust record set by a Hall thruster, achieving 5.4 newtons of force compared with the old record of 3.3 newtons. The X3 also more than doubled the operating current (250 amperes vs. 112 amperes) and ran at a slightly higher power than the previous record-holder (102 kilowatts vs. 98 kilowatts). This was encouraging news, since it means that the engine can offer faster acceleration, which means shorter travel times.
The test was carried about by Scott Hall and Hani Kamhawi at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Whereas Hall is a doctoral student in aerospace engineering at U-M, Kamhawi is NASA Glenn research scientist who has been heavily involved in the development of the X3. In addition, Kamhawi is also Hall’s NASA mentor, as part of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/strg/archives_nstrf.html">NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship</a> (NSTRF).
<figure id="attachment_109188" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109188" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/Dawn-Ion-engine-NASA-JPL-600x338.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="338" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Artist’s concept of Dawn mission using its blue ion engine to reach Ceres in the distance. Credit: NASA/JPL</figcaption></figure>
This test was the culmination of more than five years of research which sought to improve upon current Hall-effect designs. To conduct the test, the team relied on NASA Glenn’s vacuum chamber, which is currently the only chamber in the US that can handle the X3 thruster. This is due to the sheer amount of exhaust the thruster produces, which can result in ionized xenon drifting back into the plasma plume, thus skewing the test results.
NASA Glenn’s setup is the only one with a vacuum pump powerful enough to create the conditions necessary to keep the exhaust clean. Hall and Kamhawi also had to build a custom thrust stand to support the X3’s 227 kg (500 pound) frame and withstand the force it generates, since existing stands were not up to the task. After securing a test window, the team spent four weeks prepping the stand, the thruster, and setting up all the necessary connections.
<figure id="attachment_109189" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109189" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/thruster-for-mars-mission-breaks-records-thruster-orig-20171023-1024x683-600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Scott Hall makes some final adjustments on the thruster before the test begins. Credit: NASA</figcaption></figure>
All the while, NASA researchers, engineers and technicians were on hand to provide support. After 20 hours of pumping to achieve a space-like vacuum inside the chamber, Hall and Kamhawi conducted a series of tests where the engine would be fired for 12-hours straight. Over the course of 25 days, the team brought the X3 up to its record-breaking power, current and thrust levels.
<h2>Future Testing</h2>
Looking ahead, the team plans to conduct more tests in Gallimore’s lab at U-M using an upgraded vacuum chamber. These upgrades will are schedules to be completed by January of 2018, and will enable the team to conduct future tests in-house. This upgrade was made possible thanks to a $1 million USD grant, contributed in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, with additional support provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and U-M.
<figure id="attachment_109190" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-infographicListing wp-image-109190" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/thruster-for-mars-mission-breaks-records-firing-orig-20171023-e1509127871136-1024x607-600x356.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="356" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A side shot of the X3 firing at 50 kilowatts. Credit: NASA</figcaption></figure>
The X3’s power supplies are also being developed by <a href="http://www.rocket.com/">Aerojet Rocketdyne</a>, the Sacramento-based rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer that is also the lead on the propulsion system grant from NASA. By Spring of 2018, the engine is expected to be integrated with these power systems; at which point, a series of 100-hour tests that will once again be conducted at the Glenn Research Center.
The X3 is one of three prototypes that NASA is investigating for future crewed missions to Mars, all of which are intended to reduce travel times and reduce the amount of fuel needed. Beyond making such missions more cost-effective, the reduced transit times are also intended to reduce the amount of radiation astronauts will be exposed to as they travel between Earth and Mars.
The project is funded through NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep">Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnership</a> (Next-STEP), which supports not just propulsion systems but also habitat systems and in-space manufacturing.

The X3 is one of three prototypes that NASA is investigating for future crewed missions to Mars.

We just completed a record-breaking test of a revolutionary ion engine

When it comes to the future of space exploration, a number of new technologies — such as the ion engine — are being investigated.

/Author

Universe Today

Off World

Most of the Life in the Cosmos May Exist on Frozen Ice Worlds

Robots & Machines

The Genesis Project Plans to Use Robots to Seed the Galaxy With Life

Off World

“Magnetic Sails” May be the Key to Interstellar Spacecraft

Hard Science

Exploding Binary Stars Will Light up the Sky in 2022

Hard Science

There’s a Planet With a 27,000 Year Orbit, and That’s Just the Beginning

Hard Science

Either Stars are Strange, or 234 Alien Species Are Trying to Contact Us

Off World

Life Can Survive on Mars Far, Far Longer Than We Thought

Off World

A New Technique Just Helped Astronomers Uncover the Oldest Galaxy in the Known Universe

Off World

Astronomers Have Begun Mapping the Structure of the Far Side of the Milky Way

Robots & Machines

We Just Completed a Record-Breaking Test of a Revolutionary Ion Engine

Load More