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Is there life on other planets? This question worries mankind for more than one thousand years. And scientists are trying to find at least some signs that there is life on other planets. Huge sound pickup devices are aimed into space, which fix every signal,

Is there life in boiling water? Until recently, it was believed that all, even the most resistant bacteria, die in boiling water, but nature, as always, refuted this belief. At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, superhot springs with water temperatures from 250 to 400 ° C were discovered,

Is there life in the Dead Sea? The Dead Sea is a truly strange and, moreover, far from the only name given by man to this one of the most unusual reservoirs on Earth. For the first time, the ancient Greeks began to call this sea “dead”. The inhabitants of ancient Judea called

Is there life on Mars? Many people believe that there is life on Mars. But they do not distinguish fiction from real facts. Fantasts have written a thousand times - yes, yes, yes. The only question is who we will meet there - Aelita or someone else. Even now, when American

Mankind has created artificial satellites, giant telescopes and the most modern observatories. With these innovations, the depths of outer space are now being explored. Technological progress only increases human curiosity about the existence of other civilizations on distant planets. Are we alone in the universe, or are there other intelligent beings?

In the solar system, Mars is considered the most “worthy” for the existence of life. True, the climate of Northern Siberia and the highest points of the Himalayas can be called tropical compared to the climate on the Red Planet. Therefore, organic life that could reach a high level of development is unlikely to exist there. Probably, the Martians will continue to exist only in science fiction novels. Although it is impossible to exclude the existence of intelligent life on other planets of the solar system and beyond.

A team of American astronomers have counted about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. According to them, about 30 billion can be inhabited. Jeffrey Marcy, a scientist at the University of California, suggests that such findings indicate the possibility of the existence of intelligent civilizations in the universe.

However, the word "possibility" is different from the word "probability". A planet must be suitable for existence in order for life to appear on it.

Scientists still cannot understand and explain the mechanism of transformation of inanimate matter into living cells. If they do not know the exact process by which life originated, how can one estimate its appearance on another planet?

Versions and assumptions of scientists

Since the twentieth century, astronomers have been actively searching for life on the planets of the solar system. They send radio signals into space, explore its various sections, and interplanetary stations send messages from the earth race. After all, it is very important for human civilization to find their own kind on other planets. So far, only the first attempts are being made, like the first steps of a small child. They are ineffective on the long and difficult path to intelligent civilizations, but they exist, and the process is accelerating. However, there is another important point - the reality of the existence of the search object.

The famous Soviet astronomer of the twentieth century, Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky, with a lot of arguments, was able to substantiate the hypothesis that human civilization is the only unique one in the entire Galaxy. The scientist is sure that possible contacts with intelligent beings will not benefit a person.

The origin of the Universe, evolution on Earth, the study of intelligent beings are carried out by specialists from all over the world: physicists, chemists, psychologists, astronomers, biologists, etc. However, only the protein form of life is known to science, because only it exists on Earth. Therefore, the appearance of a different form will be a unique phenomenon, a sensation that will be difficult to explain.

The task set to discover and explore other civilizations is very important for our practice, culture, philosophy, science and technology. If intelligent life is "found" in space, this will show the race of man the way to the future - to astronomical intervals of time and space, radically changing his whole life. That is why more and more people join the search for extraterrestrial civilizations every year. However, where to look and how to do it remains an unresolved issue.

Mankind lives in the age of cybernetics, where scientific progress is "by leaps and bounds". But again the question arises: if there are highly developed civilizations, then how high is their level of development? A lot of them? Are they in contact with each other? Is it possible to detect them with modern technology? But the most important question remains: do the messages of intelligent beings reach the Earth?

The new science, which will study the issues of alien contacts, does not yet have a name, but its role in the development of mankind is enormous. Specialists will explore the possibilities of establishing connections with other developed beings, and provide information about us.

Ancient evidence for the existence of aliens

Should we expect that some kind of spaceship will descend to Earth, and representatives of another civilization will want to contact us? Such an option is quite possible. But its probability in our time is too small. Or maybe aliens have already visited our planet?

Digging into the ancient history of man, you can find many traces of aliens. Planet Earth is a real museum of contacts with aliens. Over the past decades, the search for such artifacts of the existence of intelligent beings from distant planets has gained immense popularity, and they are worth it to explain their purpose to us. However, science so far only puts forward versions and assumptions.

Over the past few years, in all countries of the world, the number of appearances of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has increased very sharply. Cases are recorded on all continents of the globe. For example, various flying spacecraft that do not have the same design. Eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras see them as balls, disks, rhombuses, trapezoids, cylinders and even cones. If they are so different, then it is quite possible that these are representatives of more than one intelligent civilization. Secret materials about UFO contacts with humanity have been collected for decades, and now suddenly countries such as New Zealand, France, Great Britain, and the United States have declassified archives. What happened?

Every nation has myths and legends that indirectly prove the existence of other worlds. Even a 400-year-old fresco in a cathedral in Georgia depicts saucer-like spacecraft with people in them. Maybe aliens have always been with us, studying us, controlling us?

In Florence, on the canvas of the great artist “Madonna with Saint Giovanni”, a strange flying object is depicted, resembling a luminous disk. And the gold figurines found in Central America, which are 2,000 years old, are exact copies of modern UFOs.

As for archaeological finds, the frescoes from the Sahara desert, found by scientists from France, are amazing. In addition to animals, they depict people in spacesuits. And the gigantic mysterious structures, the purpose of which cannot be explained to this day, indicate that the Earth was visited by stellar aliens. It is possible that Baalbek Terrace was a rocket launch site built by astronauts who traveled hundreds of light-years across.

For some scientists, the question "are we alone in the universe?" resolved long ago. They are sure that humanity has long been in contact with alien intelligent beings. So, John Pope, a scientist from Britain, is sure that talented people on Earth are descendants of space aliens, and more than half of humanity is the ancestors of alien civilizations.

Opinions of specialists in the field of studying contacts with other worlds from outer space do not always coincide. For example, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking states that the contact of terrestrial representatives with aliens will only bring problems to the Earth. We may even be in danger from their presence. The scientist is sure that the technologies of civilizations of other planets are thousands of times superior to any human achievements. Why should they get close to such a backward race? For them, new planets are a source of materials, they lead a nomadic life, moving between stars with the help of energy.

Maybe we're not alone

American professor of astrophysics Frank Drake put forward a hypothesis according to which hundreds of millions of civilizations can exist on 100 billion planets like Earth. In addition, most of them are able to contact us. If the universe is so populated with intelligent beings that are far superior to our civilization, why haven't we met them?

Specialists send signals and messages to the depths of the universe, hoping to find intelligent life. For decades, repeated attempts have been made to contact the Martians or aliens from distant planets. The most powerful radio telescope in Puerto Rico has been sending messages into deep space since 1974. However, no one received an answer. Perhaps it hasn't reached them yet?

There is also such an option: intelligent civilizations do not want to make contact with humanity, because they know that we are aggressive, unpredictable and dangerous. Some scientists suggest that the Earth is an isolated planet that cannot be contacted.

Be that as it may, the Universe is silent, and this is a scientifically proven fact. It must be accepted and appropriate conclusions drawn. If the search for extraterrestrial civilizations did not give a positive result and there is not even a hint in favor of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence, then we are alone in the Universe? Maybe we should stop looking and finally admit that intelligent life on Earth is unique?

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Last month, at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society, an important discovery was announced: using equipment from the Kepler space observatory, researchers have discovered a planet of approximately Earth mass that orbits a star outside the solar system. The new planet, GJ 1241b, is larger than our planet, but inferior to Neptune. But most importantly, the Hubble telescope showed that there are clouds in the atmosphere of a celestial body.

This, of course, is not enough to claim that there is life on this planet. In addition, GJ 1241b does not revolve around a massive and hot Sun, but around a small and cold (by cosmic standards) star - a red dwarf. Red dwarfs from Earth are not visible to the naked eye, although this type of star is the most common in our galaxy. And in the past few years, a lot of research has shown that it is these small stars that are the best candidates for looking around for the so-called exoplanets on which life can hypothetically exist.

The chances that on such planets there may be water at the optimum temperature for living organisms is much higher than on planets orbiting superhot stars. After all, the formation of the Earth is a unique case within the Universe, billions of different conditions and variables converged in such a way that life developed on it. In other cases known to mankind, planets revolving around stars like the Sun are not suitable for existence. Therefore, researchers suggest that life forms on exoplanets, if any, are significantly different from those on Earth.

GJ 1214b (ESO)

Many scientists, however, believe that the hopes of finding anything alive on exoplanets are still futile.

First, red dwarfs emit much less light and heat than many other stars in the universe. In addition, exoplanets do not rotate around their axis, so on its side closest to the star there will always be day and high temperature, and on the opposite side - eternal night and cold. Such a temperature difference creates strong disturbances in the planet's atmosphere: from one side to the other, a very strong wind will blow and heavy rains will fall.

Radiation creates a lot of questions. Earth is reliably protected by magnetic fields, and terrestrial life forms could hardly survive under the cruel radiation of red dwarfs. In addition, these stars are very unstable. Due to powerful flashes, the brightness of the star rises in a very short time and destroys all life.

All these phenomena are arguments that life on exoplanets is unlikely. But that was the case until recently. In July, researchers from the University of Chicago, USA, suggested that this is not entirely true. They compiled a climate model that explained that the very temperature difference is precisely what makes the existence of life on these cosmic bodies possible. It was suggested that the clouds in the "day" part of the planet, being very dense, reflect a large amount of heat and radiation emanating from red dwarfs, while in the "night" part the opposite is true - the sky is cloudless.

GJ 1214b (ESO)

Due to this contrast, the currents of the generated wind would distribute heat evenly throughout the planet. As a result, the habitable zone around red dwarfs is expanding significantly. In some places on the planet, plants would be able to adapt to such conditions, but they would have to “grow” a powerful root system for themselves in order to resist powerful air currents. The color of their foliage would be black, which would help them catch even the faintest rays of light that make their way through the atmosphere. After all, it is light that is the basis of photosynthesis and the vital activity of plants.

In addition, red dwarfs "live" for a very, very long time - trillions and trillions of years. In order for life to originate on Earth, it took "only" half a billion, so that, despite the most difficult, by our standards, conditions, living organisms on exoplanets have enough time to develop, evolve and adapt. The phase of active outbursts of red dwarfs lasts only the first one and a half billion years, so the amount of radiation emitted will be significantly reduced after they have passed.

That is why many scientists share the opinion that if where it is worth looking for life in the Universe, then it is around red dwarfs. In 2017, NASA will launch an exoplanetary satellite specifically for this purpose. So who knows, maybe there, on the surface of an exoplanet, far beyond the solar system, for a long time another and completely alien to us intelligent civilization has been tormented by the same question: is there life anywhere else in the Universe?

Potentially habitable planets. Our Earth can be used as a reference world for the existence of life. But still, scientists need to consider many different conditions that are very different from ours. Under which life in the universe can be sustained in the long term.

How many years has life existed in the universe?

The earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. However, more than 9 billion years have passed since the Big Bang. It would be extremely arrogant to assume that the universe took all this time to create the necessary conditions for life. Inhabited worlds could have arisen much earlier. All the ingredients needed for life are still unknown to scientists. But some are quite obvious. So what conditions must be met for a planet to form that can support life?

The first thing that will be needed is the correct type of star. All sorts of scenarios can exist here. A planet can exist in orbit around an active, powerful star and remain habitable despite its hostility. Red dwarfs, such as , can emit powerful flares and deprive the atmosphere of a potentially habitable planet. But it is clear that a magnetic field, a dense atmosphere, and life that was smart enough to seek shelter during such intense events could very well combine to make such a world habitable.

But if the life of a star is not too long, then the development of biology in its orbit is impossible. The first generation of stars, known as population III stars, had a 100 percent chance of not having habitable planets. The stars need to at least contain some metals (heavy elements are heavier than helium). In addition, the first stars lived short enough for life to appear on the planet.

planet requirements

So, enough time has passed for the appearance of heavy elements. Stars appeared, whose lifetime is estimated in billions of years. The next ingredient we need is the correct planet type. As far as we understand life, this means that the planet must have the following characteristics:

• capable of maintaining a sufficiently dense atmosphere;
• maintains an uneven distribution of energy on its surface;
• has liquid water on the surface;
• has the necessary initial ingredients for the emergence of life;
• has a strong magnetic field.

A rocky planet that is large enough, has a dense atmosphere, and revolves around its star at the right distance, has every chance. Considering that planetary systems are a fairly common phenomenon in space, and also that there are a huge number of stars in each galaxy, the first three conditions are quite easy to fulfill.

The star of the system may well provide the energy gradient of its planet. It can occur when exposed to its gravity. Or such a generator could be a large satellite orbiting the planet. These factors can cause geological activity. Therefore, the condition of uneven distribution of energy is easily fulfilled. The planet must also have reserves of all the necessary elements. Its dense atmosphere should allow liquid to exist on the surface.

Planets with similar conditions should have arisen by the time the universe was only 300 million years old.

Need more

But there is one nuance that needs to be considered. It consists in the need to have enough heavy elements. And their fusion takes longer than it takes for rocky planets to form with the right physical conditions.

These elements must provide the correct biochemical reactions that are necessary for life. On the outskirts of large galaxies, this may take many billions of years and many generations of stars. Which will live and die in order to produce the required amount of the right substance.

In hearts, star formation occurs frequently and continuously. From the recycled remains of previous generations of supernovae and planetary nebulae, new stars are born. And the number of necessary elements can grow there quickly.

The galactic center, however, is not a very good place for the origin of life. Gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, black hole formation, quasars and collapsing molecular clouds create an environment here that is unstable at best for life. It is unlikely that it will be able to arise and develop in such conditions.

To obtain the desired conditions, this process must stop. It is necessary that star formation no longer occur. That is why the very first, most suitable planets for life arose, probably not in a galaxy like ours. But rather in a red-dead galaxy that stopped forming stars billions of years ago.

When we study galaxies, we see that 99.9% of their composition is gas and dust. This is the reason for the emergence of new generations of stars and the continuous process of star formation. But some of them stopped forming new stars around 10 billion years ago or more. When their fuel runs out, which can happen after a catastrophic major galactic merger, star formation suddenly stops. Blue giants simply end their lives when they run out of fuel. And they remain slowly smoldering on.

Dead galaxies

As a result, these galaxies are today referred to as "red dead" galaxies. All of their stars are stable, old, and safe in regards to the risks that regions of active star formation bring.

One of these, the galaxy NGC 1277, is very close to us (by cosmic standards).

Therefore, it is obvious that the first planets on which life could arise did not arise later than 1 billion years after the birth of the Universe.

The most conservative estimate is that there are two trillion galaxies. And so galaxies that are cosmic oddities and statistical outliers undoubtedly exist. Only a few questions remain: what is the prevalence of life, the probability of its occurrence and the time required for this? Life can arise in the Universe even before reaching the billionth year. But a stable, permanently inhabited world is a far greater achievement than life that has just arisen.

Are we alone in this universe? Until now, this issue remains unresolved. But UFO sightings and mysterious space images make us believe in the existence of aliens. Let's see where else, besides our planet, the existence of life is possible.

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The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky, visible to the naked eye. This nebula is located one and a half thousand light-years from us. Scientists have discovered many particles in the nebula, from which the formation of life in our understanding is possible. The nebula contains substances such as methanol, water, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide.

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There are billions of exoplanets in the universe. And some of them contain huge amounts of organic matter. The planets also revolve around their stars, just like our Earth around the Sun. And if you're lucky, some of them rotate at such an optimal distance from their star that they receive enough heat that the water present on the planet is in liquid form, and not in solid or gaseous form.

Kepler 62e is the exoplanet that most widely satisfies the conditions to support life. It revolves around the star Kepler-62 (in the constellation Lyra) and is 1200 light-years away from us. It is assumed that the planet is one and a half times heavier than the Earth, and its surface is completely covered with a 100-kilometer layer of water. In addition, the average temperature of the planet's surface, according to calculations, is slightly higher than the earth's and is 17 ° C, and ice caps at the poles may be completely absent. Scientists talk about a 70-80% chance that some form of life could exist on this planet.

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Enceladus is one of Saturn's moons. It was discovered back in the 18th century, but interest in it increased a little later, after the Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered that the surface of the satellite has a complex structure. It is completely covered with ice, has ridges, areas with many craters, as well as very young areas flooded with water and frozen. This makes Enceladus one of three geologically active objects in the outer solar system.

The Cassini interplanetary probe in 2005 studied the surface of Enceladus and made many interesting discoveries. Cassini discovered carbon, hydrogen and oxygen on the surface of the moon, and these are key components for the formation of life. Methane and organic matter have also been found in some areas of Enceladus. In addition, the probe revealed the presence of liquid water under the surface of the satellite.

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Titanium

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. Its diameter is 5150 km, which is 50% larger than the diameter of our moon. In terms of size, Titan surpasses even the planet Mercury, slightly inferior to it in mass.

Titan is considered the only satellite of the planet in the solar system, which has its own dense atmosphere, consisting mainly of nitrogen. The temperature on the surface of the satellite is minus 170-180°C. And, although it is considered too cold environment for the emergence of life, a large amount of organic matter on Titan may indicate otherwise. The role of water in building life here can be played by liquid methane and ethane, which are here in several states of aggregation. Titan's surface is made up of methane-ethane rivers and lakes, water ice, and sedimentary organic matter.

In addition, it is possible that under the surface of Titan there are more comfortable conditions for life. Perhaps there are warm thermal springs rich in life. Therefore, this satellite is the subject of future research.

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Callisto is the second largest natural satellite of Jupiter. Its diameter is 4820 km, which is 99% of the diameter of the planet Mercury.

This satellite is one of the most distant from Jupiter. This means that the deadly radiation of the planet affects him to a lesser extent. The satellite always has one side facing Jupiter. All this makes it one of the most likely candidates for creating a habitable base there in the future to study the Jupiter system.

And although Callisto does not have a dense atmosphere, its geological activity is zero, it is one of the candidates for the detection of living forms of organisms. This is because amino acids and other organics, which are necessary for the emergence of life, were found on the satellite. In addition, there may be an underground ocean below the surface of the planet, which is rich in minerals and other organic compounds.

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Europa is one of Jupiter's moons. It has a diameter of 3120 km, which is slightly inferior to the Moon. The surface of the moon is made of ice, under which there is a liquid ocean. Beneath the ocean, the surface is composed of silicate rocks, and at the center of the satellite is an iron core. Europa has a rarefied oxygen atmosphere. The ice surface is quite smooth, indicating geological activity.

You ask, where can a liquid ocean appear at such a distance from the Sun? The tidal interactions of Jupiter are to blame. The planet has a huge mass, its gravity strongly affects the surfaces of satellites. Just as the Moon affects the tides on Earth, Jupiter does the same with its moons, only to a much greater extent.

The surface of Europa is strongly deformed by the gravity of Jupiter, friction is formed inside the satellite, which heats up the bowels, making this process something similar to the earthly movements of lithospheric plates.

So we see that Europa has oxygen, a weak atmosphere, liquid water, and many different minerals that are the building blocks of life.

The European Space Agency is planning a landing mission to Europe, which is scheduled for 2022. She can reveal many secrets of this moon of Jupiter.

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Mars

Mars is by far the most accessible planet for finding evidence of extraterrestrial life. The position of the planet in the solar system, its size and composition indicate the possibility of the existence of life on it. And, if now Mars is lifeless, then perhaps he had life earlier.

There are many facts about the existence of life on Mars:

Most of the Martian asteroids found on Earth contain micro-fossils of life. The only question is whether these fossils could not have landed on asteroids after landing.

The presence of dry river beds, volcanoes, ice caps and various minerals indicates the possibility of the existence of life on the planet.

Short-term increases in the amount of methane in the Martian atmosphere have been documented. In the absence of geological activity of the planet, such emissions can only be caused by the presence of microorganisms on the planet.

Studies have shown that in the past, Mars had much more comfortable conditions than it does now. Rough streams of rivers flowed on the surface of the planet, Mars had its own seas and lakes. Unfortunately, the planet does not have its own magnetic field and it is much lighter than the Earth (its mass is about 10% of the Earth's). All this prevents Mars from retaining a dense atmosphere. If the planet were heavier, and perhaps we would now see life on it that would be as beautiful and diverse as on Earth.

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Conclusion

Science is exploring space by leaps and bounds. Everything we know today will help us find answers to many questions tomorrow.

We hope that in this century humanity will find extraterrestrial life. It was the article "TOP 7 places in the Universe where life is possible." Thank you for your attention.