AstronomyConversation LaurenWehlage AstronomyM/W45:20

(Thepurposeofthispaper,istoconversewithothersaboutourcomprehensiononthetopicof astronomy,sharestories,andlearnknewthings.)

TheConversation

Whendiscussingastronomy,itisbesttogetagroupofintelligentteenagers,(moreorless) anddiscussyourthoughts,andopinions.Whendoingso,makesureyouhavethingstotalkabout,anda fewcrazythoughts,thatNASAhasimplantedinyourbrain.Herearemygroupsexperiences,Enjoy. Asagroup,wewereslightlydysfunctional,noneofusplannedverywell.So,wemadeagroup lastminute,itconsistedofthepeopleIsitaround.Ourconversationlastedanhourwecoveredmany topics,andonlygotofftopictwice.InasenseIplannedfortheconversation,becausethenightbefore Iresearchedafewtopics.Ihadgoogled,AliensandAstronomy,andAliens,andAstronomy news.Sowhentheconversationdidstart,Ihadtopicinput. Ourconversationstartedoutslightlyawkward,untilthreeofthefiveofus,gotoutinternet sources.WelookedupthingstotalkaboutoneofusbroughtupSaturnsmoonTitanandwe discussedvariousfactsaboutthatmoon,andtheplanetSaturn.Suchasdaysontitan,aretheequivalent to16earthdays.Otherinformationsuchas,TitanisthesixthellipsoidalmoonfromSaturn. Frequentlydescribedasaplanetlikemoon,Titanhasadiameter50%largerthanEarth's naturalsatellite,theMoon,andis80%moremassive(Wiki) WealsodiscussedhowCoolthenameTitanwas,thatfurtherledustodiscuss,Could humansliveontitan?AsinglebreathofTitan'satmospherewouldkillyou.ThereisnoOxygen, buttherearesomeundesirablegasesfromtheHumanpointofviewincludingAmmoniaand HydrogenCyanide.However,thesewouldnotkillyou.Thecoldwould.Withatemperature averagingbelowthelowesttemperatureeverrecordedontheEarth,Titanistoocoldforus.Itis actuallyworsethanouterspacebecausetheatmospherewouldconductheatawayfromour

bodies,sowecouldnotevensurviveinanormalspacesuit.ATitansurvivalsuitcouldbe designed,butweshouldbelookingatartificialhabitats.(Challis) Talkingaboutbeingabletoliveonplanets,ornot,ledustotalkaboutAliens.(Ofcourse)Iwas theonetobringupaliens,duetomysuddeninterestinthem.Wetalkedaboutaliensforawhile,soIm goingtothrowsomerandomfactswediscovered,atyou.Therehavebeentonsofsecret governmentprojectsgoingonformanyyearsnowandeachofthesehaveinformationthatis leakedwithtime.Wehadsomeveryscientificartistsback1,000yearsago.Imeanwhowouldhave thoughttheyknewabouthowtodrawspaceshipsback1,000yearsagowhentheyweren't"invented" until100orsoyearsago.Hmm..Therearemanystoriesofofficialgovernmentpeople,spillingthe beansandtellingstoriesofwhattheyhavewitnessed.Picturesofaliensanddeadalienbodiesareall overtheweb,whostosaywhatisrealandwhatisnt.Itiscompletelyarrogantandshallowtothinkwe aretheonlyformofconsciousnessinaninfiniteuniverse.Wealsodiscussedhowlogicalitisthatthere mightbealiens. Thenumberofstarsthathaveplanetarysystems.Theoriginalextrasolarsystemplanethunting technologydictatedthatastarneededtobetooclosetousforaplanettobedetected,usuallybythe stars'wobble'.Bettertechnologythatallowsustomeasurethedimmingofstarsbrightnesswhena planetcrossesitsdiskhasnowrevolutionizedplanethuntingandnewplanetsarebeingdiscoveredatan everincreasingrate.Sofararound100havebeendiscoveredsowehaveverylittledatatoworkonfor thisestimate.Evenso,mostcosmologistsbelievethatplanetaryformationaroundastarisquitecommon place.Forthesakeofargumentletussayit'snotandrateitatonlyoneinamillionandonlyoneplanet ineachsystem,aswewantaconservativeestimate,notanexaggeratedone.Thatcalculationresultsin: 10,000,000,000,000,000planetsintheuniverse.Tenmillion,billion,asaconservativeestimate.The

numberplanetscapableofsupportinglife.Let'sassumethatthisisveryrareamongplanetsandrateitat onlyoneinamillion.Simpledivisionresultsin:10,000,000,000planetsintheuniversecapableof producinglife.Tenbillion!IfIwastobestartingabusinessandhadthesetypesofoddsIwouldtakeit everytime.Thefactofthematteris,theseoddsareterriblyinfavoroftheexistenceofaliens.(Ideas fromQuinton) Theconclusionofourconversationincludedafewrandomtopics.Wetalkedabouttherotation ofthemoon,andafewthingswehaddiscussedinclass.Wethenmovedonto,howEasterisbasedoff themoon,afterthe21stofMarchwheneverafullmoonthenextSundayisEaster.Wegotofftopic anddiscussedSpringbreakforamoment.Butcamebackandtalkedaboutclass,wediscussedthe planets,andendedwithabriefconversationontheApollospacecrafts.Howsuccessfulsomewere, andhowagroupofastronautsdied,inothercases. Conclusion Ifoundourconversationtobeveryresourcefulandentertaining.Ilearnedsomenewthings,and gottosharemythoughtsandopinionsaboutspace,andastronomywithmypeers.Itsrefreshingto learnotherpeoplesopinionsandthoughtsonvarioustopics.Iwasaskepticofaliensbeforethis conversation,nowIknowforafacttheyexist,thankstomygroupandtheinternet.(haha)Ilearned moreaboutmoons,planets,astronauts,lifeonspace,aliens,andstatisticsonbeingabletoliveonother planets.So,Ifeelourconversationwentwell.IamgladthatIgottheexperience,andthatIamtaking thisAstronomycourse.

 WorksCited
Challis,Steve."CouldHumansLiveonTitan?"Ezinearticles.SparkNET,16,March2010.Web.14 April2014. Ideasonalienprobability,QuintononTruthcontrol*toptenreasonsaliensexist.* InformationonApollospacecrafthttp://www.aerospaceguide.net/spaceexploration/apollo.html Othervariousinformation,NASAwebsite. HelpfromWikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)

Thankstomygroup,andmyAstronomyteacher.