Transcript Day-1

Astronomy 3040
Astrobiology
Spring_2016
Day-1
Snow-1, Education-0
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I’m posting these so y’all can look through them
BEFORE we meet (probably on) Monday 1/25.
 Syllabus and all that rot
 Resources
 Grading
 Project
 Expectations
 Who are we?
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Dr. Allyn Smith
Office Hours: (B329-SSB): MWF 1000-1100 & by app’t.
D2L – Will be used for grade tracking only. Do NOT
send email via D2L – it probably will not be read.
Everything you need for this class can be found at:
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http://www.apsu.edu/astronomy
NOT using i-clickers in this class.
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Text Book: Life in the Universe, 3rd Edition
 By Bennett & Shostak
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ORDER FROM:
Amazon.com or visit Study Master
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ISBN: 978-0-321-68767-8 or 0-321-68767-1
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We will however, be using journal articles that
pertain to the subject.
How to Attack the course
• Read the text – preferably BEFORE class.
• Visualize the concept.
• Quiz yourself (and others)
• Try to teach the material to your study group.
• Focus - Concepts, Relationships, Connections.
• Don’t psych yourself out over the “math”.
• Stay current with assignments.
• If you have questions … Office Hours!!!
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Goals for the class:
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What is life?
Evolutionary history of life on Earth
What is required for life?
How do you search for life?
How do you form a star and planets?
Possibilty of life in the Solar System
ISS experiments
Exo-planets
Kardashev civilization scale
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Assignment:
Look through these slides AND the on-line material;
especially the syllabus, observing requirements, and
the project.
Read Chapter 1.
Think about the key concepts outlined in the chapter.
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The ASTR-1010/1020 classes have an Observing Rqmnt:
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1st quarter moon nights – 3 of them this semester
6 Dark Night observing sessions – you must attend 1:
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Weather dependent
Notice posted on astronomy URL by 5pm.
Dates are on the web site.
This is NOT required for ASTR-3040, but you are
welcome to attend if you choose to.
And, we greatly appreciate people who show up to
help setup and tear-down the equipment.
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Exams:
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2-3, ”1 hour” exams
The last one will be given during the final exam time
BONUS POINTS: Wear Hawai’ian shirts on exam days;
Attend a planetarium show (or two); attend a BSAS star
party or meeting. ... And help at the ASTR-1010/1020
observing nights.
Spacecraft Design Project
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If you were to design a spacecraft to explore one of the
moons of our solar system to search for indicators of life:
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How much power do you need to run the instruments?
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Which moon would you choose and why?
Where would expect to find life on or in this moon?
What instruments would you include on the probe? Why?
What is the power source? (nuclear, solar?)
Then, consider the mass of the instruments, spacecraft
structure, propulsion system (including fuel), and power
supply source (rough estimates only here).
Finally, look at the launch vehicle performance ...
This will be a group effort.
Why & How Study Astrobiology?
 Folk Lore
 Martian canals
 UFOs
 Astronomy
 Planetary Sciences
 Geology
 Atmospheres & Oceans
 Biology
Mars, the only planet inhabited only by robots
Where do we Look?
 Earth - extremophiles
 In the Solar System
 Planets – sizes, distance from Sun
Mars
 Moons – sizes, water & water ice
 Jupiter – Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
 Saturn – Titan, Enceladus
 Neptune - Triton
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Exoplanets
 2014 confirmed planets (22 Jan. 2016)
 How find them?
 Pulsar Timing
 Radial Velocity
 Astrometry
 Gravitational Lensing
 Photometry (transits)
Where do we Look?
 Beyond the Solar System
 Distances to stars, travel time
 SETI
But First ...
 What is Life?
 If you're going to find it, you have to know
what you're looking for.
 Carbon based? (or Silicon)
 Liquid water?
 Simple or complex
 Communicating?
 Cyborgs?