ESSENTIAL COSMIC PERSPECTIVE BUNDLE
8th Edition
ISBN: 9780137438013
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 19, Problem 50EAP
Funding the Search for Life. Imagine that you are a member of Congress who decides how much government funding goes to research in different areas of science. How much would you allot to the search for life in the universe compared to the amount allotted to research in other areas of astronomy and planetary science? Why?
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A radio broadcast left Earth in 1925. How far in light years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast
reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.30 and that, in a given planetary
system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.85. How
many possible planets with life could have heard this signal?
Part 1 of 3
To figure out how many light years a signal has traveled we need to know how long since the signal left Earth.
If the signal left in 1925, distance in light years = time since broadcast left Earth.
d = tnow - tbroadcast
d =
light years
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In a globular cluster, astronomers (someday) discover a star with the same mass as our Sun, but consisting entirely of hydrogen and helium. Is this star a good place to point our SETI antennas and search for radio signals from an advanced civilization?
Group of answer choices
No, because such a star (and any planets around it) would not have the heavier elements (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) that we believe are necessary to start life as we know it.
Yes, because globular clusters are among the closest star clusters to us, so that they would be easy to search for radio signals.
Yes, because we have already found radio signals from another civilization living near a star in a globular cluster.
No, because such a star would most likely not have a stable (main-sequence) stage that is long enough for a technological civilization to develop.
Yes, because such a star is probably old and a technological civilization will have had a long time to evolve and develop there.
Water is life. Nothing survives without water. Water is abundant everywhere. Now, we said
before that water contains the primary components of good fuel. The hydrogen. Is there is a
possibility that water will be a source of Hydrogen? Or we mean, we can subject water in a
certain process and we are deriving Hydrogen from it continuously? If yes, how?
Chapter 19 Solutions
ESSENTIAL COSMIC PERSPECTIVE BUNDLE
Ch. 19 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 5VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 6VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 3EAPCh. 19 - Why is the theory of evolution so critical to our...
Ch. 19 - How are laboratory experiments helping us study...Ch. 19 - Give a brief overview of the history of life on...Ch. 19 - Is it possible that life migrated to Earth from...Ch. 19 - Describe the range of environments in which life...Ch. 19 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 19 - Briefly summarize the current status of the search...Ch. 19 - What do we mean by a star's habitable zone? What...Ch. 19 - What types of worlds might support surface...Ch. 19 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 19 - In the year 2750, we receive a signal from a...Ch. 19 - Crew members of the matter-antimatter spacecraft...Ch. 19 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 19 - A single great galactic civilization exists. It...Ch. 19 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 31EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 33EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 35EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 19 - The Science of Astrobiology. The study of...Ch. 19 - Unanswered Questions. In a sense, this entire...Ch. 19 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 19 - Most Likely to Have Life. Suppose you were asked...Ch. 19 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 43EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 45EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 47EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 19 - Funding the Search for Life. Imagine that you are...Ch. 19 - Prob. 51EAPCh. 19 - The Turning Point. Discuss the idea that our...Ch. 19 - Astrobiology News. Go to NASA’s astrobiology site...Ch. 19 - Prob. 54EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 55EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 56EAP
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- Imagine that we discovered a new planet that has the potential to support life. This planet has plenty of water on its surface and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, and a nice, comfortable temperature similar to Earth. The only difference is that this planet orbits a star that produces green light only. If we took some plants from Earth and planted them on this new planet, would our plants be able to grow? Explain your answer.arrow_forwardWhy are we limited to finding life on planets orbiting other stars to situations where the biosphere has created planet-scale changes?arrow_forwardIf you could search for life in the galaxy shown in this image, would you look among stars in the disk, in the central bulge, in the halo, or in all of those places? Discuss the factors that influence your decision.arrow_forward
- A radio broadcast left Earth in 1911. How far in light years has it traveled? If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast reached? Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.50 and that, in a given planetary system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.20. How many possible planets with life could have heard this signal?arrow_forwardWhich of the following is least reasonable regarding the difficulty in contacting extraterrestrial life using space flight and radio communication. Group of answer choices Space flight to the nearest star would take thousands of years with current technology. Even if another intelligent civilization is within a few hundred light-years of us, conversations would be very slow with a turnaround time of decades or even centuries. The spacecraft that NASA sent to Proxima Centauri a few years ago should be approaching its target within a decade or two, depending on solar wind conditions. Earth has been broadcasting at radio wavelengths since the 1930's, so any civilization within a radius of about 100 light-years or so could have received the broadcast by now. Without some major breakthrough, interstellar space flight is totally impractical.arrow_forwardWhich of the following seems least reasonable regarding life on Earth? Group of answer choices There is much scientific evidence suggesting that all creatures living on Earth today appear to have evolved from a common ancestor. Louis Pasteur discredited the concept of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that even bacteria and other microorganisms arise from parents resembling themselves. There is ample physical evidence that the earliest life forms on Earth were multicellular creatures, perhaps resembling some of our primitive fish. When the earth formed some 4.6 billion years ago, it was a lifeless, inhospitable place. Before the mid-17th century, most people believed that God had created humankind and other higher organisms and that insects, frogs, and other small creatures could arise spontaneously in mud or decaying matter About billion years into its development, the Earth it was teeming with organisms resembling blue-green algae.arrow_forward
- why do scientists generally think that liquid water is necessary for the origin of life? (astronomy)arrow_forwardMost of the stars we can see with the unaided eye in our night sky are hundreds or even thousands of lightyears away from Earth. (The very closest ones are only a few dozen lightyears away, but most are much further.) The vast majority of stars in our galaxy are many tens of thousands of lightyears away. IF intelligent life existed on planets orbiting some of these stars – and that’s a huge IF! – comment on the likelihood and practicality of (a) visiting, (b) communicating with, or (c) verifying the existence of those life forms. Describe how you might go about approaching EACH of these three tasks, or if you think they are even possible. (One or two sentences for each part would be appropriate.)arrow_forwardThe Drake Equation is a tool for estimating ... A) the number of alien civilizations that have visited the Earth in the past B) the number of planets in the Milky Way that contain civilizations intelligent enough to communicate through space. C) the number of habitable planets in the Milky Way where life has developedarrow_forward
- 200 years has passed and now it is year 2220. The Earth is out of basic resourcesas they have been drastically drained in the past 200 years. The president of theUnited World Council (UWC) has approved you and your crew’s Mission toMars. You will pilot the most advanced spaceship the world has ever known, theExcelsior! It will carry equipment that will help to transform Mars so as toresemble the Earth, especially so that it can support human life.Before the mission can launch a few items need to be figured out. What is thecapacity of the fuel tank? How long should the fuel burn to achieve escapevelocity (otherwise the Excelsior will be stuck in the Earth’s gravitational pull)?How long will it take the Excelsior to arrive at Mars?1. The ground crew is filling the fuel tanks. You know tharrow_forwardKepler-444 is one of many stars with terrestrial planets that is over 10 billion a) What do you think the spectral type of Kepler-444 might be? b) How do stars of this spectral type end their lives? c) If evolution followed a similar course on a habitable pranet around a star similar to Kepler-444, it would be 5 billion years more advanced than we are. Let’s try to project our future and see what happens. In particular, suppose our civilization gets motivated enough to colonize another planet. Kepler indicates that most stars have potentially habitable (and colonizable) planets, so roughly how far away is the typical “nearest" planet? d) The New Horizons probe on its way to Pluto took 9 years to travel 30 AU. If we could send colony ships with the same average speed, roughly how long would it take to reach the typical nearest planet? уears old.arrow_forward25. When Mars is 90 million km from Earth, a) How long would it take for a radio wave from a video camera mounted on the back of a Mars Rover to tell ground control on earth that the Rover is about to go over a cliff? b) How long would it take for a radio signal from Earth to reach the Rover saying "STOP". c) Why do our Mars Rovers have to be "intelligent" enough to figure out how to deal with obstacles themselves?arrow_forward
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