SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

Objective:

Objective of this lab is to understand that there will always be possibility of finding extraterrestrial intelligence, even it was not yet observed.

Introduction:

Important part of our science is to check all the theories, even if sometimes that theory sounds unrealistic. But maybe one day we will find some evidence of any intelligent life somewhere in the space. No widely accepted evidence of extraterrestrial life has been found; however, various controversial claims have been made. Beliefs that some unidentified flying objects are of extraterrestrial origin (see Extraterrestrial hypothesis), along with claims of alien abduction, are dismissed by most scientists. Most UFO sightings are explained either as sightings of Earth-based aircraft or known astronomical objects, or as hoaxes. In November 2011, the White House released an official response to two petitions asking the U.S. government to acknowledge formally that aliens have visited Earth and to disclose any intentional withholding of government interactions with extraterrestrial beings. According to the response, "The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race." Also, according to the response, there is "no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye." The response further noted that efforts, like SETI, the Kepler space telescope and the NASA Mars rover, continue looking for signs of life. The response noted "odds are pretty high" that there may be life on other planets but "the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved."

 

Equipment:

Large picture of part of Milky way Galaxy

Magnifying Glass

Interactive computer simulation of a planet orbiting the star "HD209458"

Characterization of Extrasolar Planets:

For this section we will use the interactive computer simulation of a planet orbiting the star"HD209458". When the planet passes in front of the star, we would observe a net decrease in the amount of starlight. This amount depends if we are looking directly at the star, or if the system is tipped. Also, big planets block more light than smaller ones. His effect might be difficult to measure, especially if the system is not directly in front of us. However, one of the most widely used techniques in extrasolar planet research does not even require us to see the planet directly. Planets also have the ability to move the star slightly! The star also feels a 'reflex' action from the motion of the planet. In reality, the star in also in orbit. Both the planet and the star are in orbit around the center of mass of the system. So the star feels a 'wobble’. The bigger the planet is, the larger the variation in its wobble. By measuring the radial velocity (the velocity along the line of sight to the star) variation, we can then infer that there must be a planet around the star. It is very hard to be able to observe small planets such us Earth because it’s so small that distortion of light cannot be seeing by machines.

Drake Equation:

These are the parameters used in the Drake Equation:

N_c = N* F_p N_e F_L F_i F_s

N^* = Number of stars in our galaxy

F_p = Fraction of Stars with Planets

N_e = Number of Habitable Planets in Each Solar System

F = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point

F_i = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life

F_s = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space

First to find average number of start in our galaxy, we took large photo of part of our galaxy and counted stars in small area under the magnifying glass.In my areas there was 12 stars so we multiplied this number by 1.5 billion.

So for the N* we got 18 x 10⁹

According to NASA only approximately 20 percent of all stars have planets orbiting them.

F_p is only 3.6 x 10⁹

In our solar system there are 8 planets and only one has life on it. But there are guesses that if in the beginning Venus could adopted a life it would carry it into our days. So there are only 2 planets in our solar system where life can exist so:

Ne is 1/4

There are two planets in habitant zone of our Sun and only Earth has life,so we will conclude that life can exist on ½ of habitant planets.

F_L is ½ or 50%

In my opinion the intelligent life will develop if life will be created on the planet. So I choose 0.8 from the scale 0.0 à 1.0

Fi is 1.0

In my opinion our civilization exist more than 6000 years. Because every step that was made through this 6000 years was very important and we will not get here if our ancestors would not done all that. So we need to devide 6000 years by 9 x 10⁹

F_s is 6000/9 x 10⁹

So in the end of my Drake equation the answer is:

It means that there is 14399 intelligent forms in our galaxy. The size of our galaxy is 45.000 light years. So the area will be Area= R².So Area=(45000)²=6.4 x 10⁹ light years ². So the average area of neighborhood occupied is 444475 light years². When we divide this area by 6000 years we get the answer that there is intelligent life every 75 light years. But we send our first radio signal 50 years ago so it means that in next 25 years our signal will get to first potential intelligent life, where it could be advanced people or where life can only start. And if someone will get our signal and they will send it back it will take 75 years for us to get it back. So by this calculation we will get answer from the other civilization after 100 years. But my numbers are really unrealistic. I just wanted to check results of most unrealistic scenario. I believe that there is life somewhere but we and our children for 100% will not hear any messages from outer space.

Decoding the message:

The Pioneer plaques are a pair of gold-anodized aluminum plaques which were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, featuring a pictorial message, in case either Pioneer 10 or 11 is intercepted by extraterrestrial life. The plaques show the nude figures of a human male and female along with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft.