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Astronomy 141:
Life in the Universe
Prof. Richard Pogge, MTWThF 12:30
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Unit 5: Life in the Universe
We now turn out attention to the possibilities for life elsewhere in
the universe. We begin with a review of the properties of stars,
their formation, lives, and deaths, and assess their habitability by
analogy with the habitable zone around our Sun. We will then describe
the discoveries of planets around other stars. In the past decade
more than hundreds of planets have been discovered around other
stars, mostly gas giants, but we are steadily closing in on Earth-sized
planets, some perhaps in the habitable zones of their parent stars.
We will describe the search techniques, and the on-going quest to find
analogs of our Earth. The section ends with a look at the possibilities
for intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe, including discussion
of the Drake Equation, the Fermi Paradox, SETI (the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence), the problems of interstellar travel
and colonization, and the possible nature of extraterrestrial life.
Lectures
The lecture notes below are all in PDF format, and are usually usually
1-2Mb in size depending on the graphics content. Audio files are in
MP3 format, and are usually around 20Mb in size.
- Part I: Life Beyond The Solar System
- The Properties of Stars (Feb 20)
- [Audio]
- Meet the Neighbors (Feb 21)
- [Audio]
- The Lives of Stars (Feb 22)
- [Audio]
- Habitable Zones around Stars (Feb 23)
- [Audio]
- Exoplanets: Planets Around Other Stars
(Feb 24) - [Audio]
- Strange New Worlds:
The Properties of Exoplanets (Feb 27)
- [Audio]
- The Pale Blue Dot (Feb 28)
- [Audio]
- Intelligent Life in the Universe (Feb 29)
- [Audio]
- The Drake Equation (Mar 1)
- [Audio]
- Quiz 4 - In class Friday March 2 [Study Guide]
- Part II: Are We Alone?
- SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence (Mar 5)
- [Audio]
- Interstellar Travel and Colonization (Mar 6)
- [Audio]
- The Fermi Paradox (Mar 7)
- [Audio]
- Extraterrestrial Life (Mar 8)
- [Audio]
- Course Summary: This View of Life (Mar 9)
- [Audio]
Lectures will be posted on the morning before class, or earlier if I get
ahead of things. Please also see A Note
about Graphics to learn why some of the graphics shown in the
lectures are not reproduced in these notes.
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Updated: 2012 March 9
Copyright © Richard W. Pogge, All
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