Was there life on other planets? There is growing evidence that Venus was once habitable.

If you could go back in time 3 billion years and land on any planet in our solar system, where would you choose? Earth, with its barren continents and unbreathable atmosphere? Or maybe Mars frozen through? What about Venus?

Second planet from the Sun

“If Venus rotated faster in the past, then most likely the planet remained as lifeless as it is now.”

Now Venus appears to be hell in the flesh. The temperature of its surface, just think about it, is 464 degrees Celsius. However, three billion years ago, this planet may have been the most suitable habitat within the solar system, or at least second only to Earth. This hypothesis has been floating around the scientific community for a long time, but thanks to new climate models created by scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, we have good reason to believe in it.

These models suggest that about 2 billion years ago, Venus may have actually been a resort planet. Moderate earthly climate, acceptable temperature, liquid oceans of water. In fact, an ideal place, except for the increased radiation level by about 40 percent compared to the current level on Earth. These models were built taking into account the difference in the rotation speed of Venus.

« If you take a world similar to Venus, rotating slowly and located in the system of a star like the Sun, then this world is quite suitable for the existence of life, especially in the oceans"says Michael Way, lead author of the new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The level of habitability on Earth and Mars has constantly changed throughout the history of the solar system. Geological evidence indicates that Mars was damper at one time in the distant past, but whether it had an ocean of liquid water or was permanently covered in ice caps is still the subject of much debate. The earth, in turn, went through stages of degeneration from a greenhouse to ice and back. All this time, oxygen accumulated in its atmosphere, which made it more and more suitable for complex life forms.

Potential cradle of humanity

“If you take a world similar to Venus, rotating slowly and located in the system of a star like the Sun, then this world would be quite suitable for the existence of life, especially in the oceans.”

But what about Venus? Our closest neighbor and its level of habitability have quite undeservedly attracted less attention from scientists compared to Mars.

Our little interest in this planet is very likely due to how Venus appears to us now: a lifeless world, with an impenetrably dense atmosphere, toxic thunderclouds and atmospheric pressure 100 times higher than on Earth. When a planet and its atmosphere can turn one space probe after another into molten goulash within a few seconds, it is understandable why people are very skeptical in its favor and decide to switch their attention to something else.

However, even if Venus is so strange and scary today, that doesn't mean she always was. The fact is that absolutely the entire surface of this planet has changed as a result of prolonged volcanic activity about 700 million years ago. And we don’t know what she was like before this time. Measuring the ratio of hydrogen isotopes in Venus's atmosphere shows that the planet once had much more water. Perhaps there was so much of it that it was enough for entire oceans.

So, in an attempt to answer the question of whether Venus was once habitable, Wei and his colleagues combined information from a general topographic database collected by the Magellan spacecraft with data on estimates of water reserves and solar radiation levels inherent in Venus. for Venus in the past. All this information was fed into global climate models, similar to those used to model and study climate change on Earth.

The results obtained were very intriguing. Despite the fact that ancient Venus about 2.9 billion years ago received much more sunlight than modern Earth, Wei's models showed that the average temperature on its surface was only 11 degrees Celsius. About 715 million years ago, temperatures increased by only 4 degrees. In other words, for more than 2 billion years, the temperature on the planet's surface was suitable for the existence of life.

Electric winds of Venus

According to new research, powerful "electric winds" on Venus could cause water to evaporate from the planet's atmosphere. However, there is one “but” here. These figures are entirely dependent on Venus's past, which suggests that it has similar topographical and orbital characteristics to the "present version" of the planet. When Wei reconfigured his models but made 2.9 billion-year-old Venus more similar to modern Earth, its surface temperature rose sharply.

« We wanted to see how changes in topography could affect the climate of this world" says Wei.

The scientist notes that the reason for this may be changes in the amount of the reflective surface of Venus, as well as a shift in atmospheric dynamics. Another interesting observation is related to the rotation of Venus. In the original computer models of Venus, 2.9 billion years old, Wei set the rotation speed equal to the current 243 Earth days. As soon as its orbital period was reduced to 16 days, the planet immediately “turned into a steamer.” This is due to areas of special circulation of the Venusian atmosphere on both sides of the equator.

« The Earth has several areas of circulation as our planet rotates rapidly. However, if it spins slowly, then there will be only two areas: one in the north, the other in the south. And this will change the entire atmospheric dynamics to a very significant extent." says Wei.

If Venus spins slowly, then huge greenhouse clouds will form directly under the heliographic place of the luminary (that is, exactly the point on the surface where the sun's rays fall). This will effectively turn Venus into one giant solar reflector. If Venus spins faster, this effect will not occur. This study does not provide a clear answer to the question of whether Venus was once habitable. However, it does give an idea of ​​what scenario it could be. It is worth noting that the planet's rotation speed can change dramatically over time. For example, our Earth slows down its rotation due to the gravity of the Moon. Some scientists suggest that Venus rotated much faster in the past. However, finding out this is an extremely difficult task. The most suitable solution is to observe compact and Venus-like planets.

The Riddle of Venus

If we assume that Venus was indeed a habitable planet several billion years ago, then it is worth thinking about what catastrophe led to what Venus is now?

« We need to collect and verify more data before we can say more", Wei replies.

The scientist adds that worlds like Venus should not be considered a priori as uninhabited.

« If we talk about the habitable zone of a star, then Venus is usually considered outside it", says the scientist.

« For modern Venus this remark is true. However, if a Venus-like world were located near a Sun-like star and at the same time had a lower rotation speed, then this world would definitely be suitable for the existence of life, especially in the oceans, if there were any».

Scientists believe that today's Venus may contain many secrets about the nature of life on Earth. We learned from meteorites that material was transferred between Mars and Earth, which in turn led astrobiologists to wonder whether the Red Planet might have seeded Earth with life. If a similar opinion is true regarding Venus, then this planet also needs to be added to the list of potential incubators of earthly life. Surprisingly, we still don't know if there are meteorites from Venus on Earth. First of all, because we have not yet had the opportunity to analyze the Venusian rock and compare it with the earthly one.

In general, we cannot immediately deny the possibility that the homeland of our most ancient ancestors could have been this acid bath, which is now Venus.

« It is quite possible that life in the solar system began with Venus and then moved to Earth. Or maybe vice versa" says Wei.

If by the word “man” we mean a certain species of animal, a species that Linnaeus called Homo sapiens, that is, a reasonable person, then the question posed in the title can be answered in the most categorical form in the negative.

Such a person, who is found on Earth, cannot exist on other planets. Intelligent beings may exist on planets, but it is absolutely incredible that these beings have the structure and appearance of a human. Man on Earth descended from his ape-like ancestors, these ancestors descended from lower apes, monkeys from prosimians, and so on. Among the ancestors of man, starting with the simplest single-celled animal, or amoeba, we can count a huge number of very diverse animals. In order for a creature similar to a human to appear on the planet, this creature must, in its development, pass through exactly the same stages through which human development went on earth. If at least one of these countless ancestors differed even slightly from the corresponding human ancestor, then even then the final result of development cannot produce a creature completely similar to man.

Even on Earth, where conditions are more or less uniform everywhere, biologists do not allow the possibility of the independent appearance of the same animal species in two different places on the globe. If the wolf is found in Europe and North America, it is not because this animal originated independently in each of these countries, but because the wolf was born from its ancestors in the Old World, and then moved to America. In the same way, all races of people, despite the great difference between them in appearance, are derived by biologists from one human species and from one race, the descendants of which settled throughout the Earth. It is all the more incredible that one and the same human breed would appear, on the one hand, on Earth, and on the other, on some planet where living conditions are completely different.

There may be intelligent beings on the planets, but we cannot say anything definite about how they are structured. The only thing that is certain is that they must have a large accumulation of nervous tissue, i.e., a brain, and, therefore, a large head, otherwise they could not be intelligent. They may have four or two legs, they may also have wings, but they must certainly have organs adapted for grasping, that is, something like our hands. Without such organs, that is, without hands, the intelligence of these creatures could not be properly used and could not develop. As a result, the first glimmers of reason would soon die out.

I recently came across an interesting idea about life on other planets, and in particular, why we have not yet found anything like this. A certain Schneiderman, in his book “Beyond the Horizon of the Conscious World,” referring to an article from back in 1990, talks about the concept natural cosmic frequency, which is abbreviated as SFC.

According to the academician, every body in the Universe has its own cosmic frequency. And it is the SCN that determines the nature of the space and time in which this body is located. For the Earth, this figure is 365.25, that is, the number of revolutions around its own axis during its passage around the central luminary - the Sun. For each planet, the SSC is unique and inimitable. And this is precisely the answer to the question of why we feel so alone in the space of the Universe.

Our own cosmic frequency in which we are born forms for us a certain individual pattern through the prism of which we look at the world. All we can see is just a materialized image, transformed to suit our perception.

It's similar to how we perceive colors. After all, flowers, as such, do not exist. We see waves of different lengths, which the brain interprets as color. And one more interesting nuance is that our spectrum does not include their entire possible range. There are vibrations that the eye simply cannot recognize. We do not see ultraviolet and infrared, and many more radiations are inaccessible to our perception.

By analogy, life on other planets in its real and objective existence cannot be recognized through the filters of an alien SCN. And even what scientists will probably one day be able to find, according to this theory, will be very far from the truth and true only in a system where the central point of reference is the planet Earth and the individual pattern or view of the Universe set by its sphere.

Contact with an objective alien is possible only through a change in one’s own cosmic frequency, through its adjustment and attunement with the object of study. However, this cannot be achieved through technical means alone. Moreover, adherents of the concept argue that such an artificial change in a person’s SFC, even if possible, will certainly lead to tragic consequences. The reason is that an unprepared mind is not able to undergo such a transformation and then return to its original state without disorder or damage.

Thus, extraterrestrial contacts will become possible only through the development of consciousness through knowledge and mystical practice. Today, for humanity as a whole, these methods are inaccessible, because the main measure of their availability is the level of ethics. And as long as there is “at least one military man on our planet who is eager to seize power,” high knowledge will remain hidden from the world community behind seven locks.

In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion in astronomical circles about the search for life on other planets, so much so that a new term has been coined for this research - astrobiology, since there is no evidence yet that life exists elsewhere.

Astrobiology is the science of the origins of evolution and the spread of life for which there is as yet no data, or at least no data to support the science.

Search for life in the solar system

Since there is no support for the claim that life exists on other planets, much attention has been devoted to finding planetary conditions favorable to life.

Mars has been the focus of attention for a very long time and is now being targeted for Martian soil samples. The Red Planet is about half the size of Earth, and it has at least a thin atmosphere. Water exists on Mars, although it is probably not abundant in vapor or solid form. The temperature and atmospheric pressure on Mars are too low to support liquid water.

The rovers that have explored the surface of Mars since 1976 have contained three very reliable experiments to detect signs of life. Two experiments showed no signs of living organisms, the third experiment had weak but ambiguous data. Even the most optimistic searchers for extraterrestrial life agree that these slight positive signs were likely the result of inorganic chemical reactions in the soil. In addition to the terrible cold and the rarity of water, there are other obstacles to life on Mars today. For example, the thin Martian atmosphere provides no protection from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, which is lethal to living things.

With these concerns, interest in life on Mars has waned, although some hopes still hold out and many think that life may have existed on Mars in the past.

Mars exploration

In recent years, the orbiter has detected methane in the Martian atmosphere. Methane is a gas often produced by living things, although it can also form inorganically. A gamma-ray spectrometer aboard the Mars Odyssey orbiter detected significant amounts of hydrogen in the upper surfaces, likely indicating an abundance of ice. The iconic Spirit and Opportunity rovers provided compelling evidence that liquid water existed on the surface of Mars. This latest point is confirmation of what we have known for decades: photographs from the orbiter have shown numerous features that are best interpreted as having a lot of liquid water on Mars in the past. It's possible the Red Planet once had a much more substantial atmosphere than it does now, an atmosphere that provided enough pressure and heat to support liquid water.

This holds exciting promise for pessimists of life on other planets.

• First, scientists have concluded that Mars, a planet without liquid water, once experienced a near-global flood, all the while denying that such a thing could happen on Earth, a planet with abundant water.
• Secondly, many believe that the earth's atmosphere underwent enormous changes during the Flood. It is believed that the Earth has experienced catastrophic changes in its atmosphere.

Please note that in the study of astrobiology, water indicators occupy a prominent place.

As a universal solvent, water is absolutely essential to life, making up the majority of the mass of many organisms. And water is one of the most abundant molecules in the Universe. While water has been directly detected throughout the universe (even in the outer layers of cool stars!), we have never found liquid water anywhere in the universe. Liquid water is the main standard for living beings, since it seems that life is impossible without it. However, while water is a necessary condition for life, it is far from being a sufficient condition for life—much more is required.

Jupiter exploration

A few years ago, a stir in scientific circles was caused by the announcement of the possibility of a small ocean of liquid water beneath the surface of Europa, one of Jupiter's larger moons. Most of the cases for this water depend on the surface features of Europa - there are large cracked segments that resemble features of the polar ice pack that are the result of upwelling frozen between the cracks. Additionally, if the water were salty, this could explain the magnetic field of Jupiter's moon. It has since been suggested that a similar argument was made on the moon Ganymede, another large moon of Jupiter.

Many scientists are now considering a possible undersea ocean on the Europa moon as the most likely place in the solar system to find life beyond our home. This ocean, if it exists, is very dark and probably very cold. A few decades ago, living organisms in such a place would have been unthinkable. However, scientists have found that organisms live in very hostile environments, such as hydrothermal vents deep in the Earth's oceans. In addition, underground lakes exist far beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. The largest and most famous of them is Lake Vostok, located 4 kilometers under the ice. Although we don't know if life exists in these lakes, many scientists want to find out. They believe that if life could exist in these terrestrial lakes, why shouldn't life exist inside Jupiter's moon?

The search for life outside the solar system

Whether there is life on other planets outside the solar system has always worried humanity. Therefore, in our time, scientists, astronomers, and astrobiologists are constantly looking for the presence of life on other celestial bodies. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has specially developed an astronomical satellite, on which the Kepler space telescope is located, designed to search for planets outside the solar system around other stars.

Kepler Space Telescope

Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA in 2009. The observatory is equipped with an ultrasensitive photometer capable of analyzing signals in the light region of the spectrum and transmitting data to Earth. Thanks to its high resolution, it is able to distinguish not only exoplanets, but also their satellites with a size of 0.2 the size of the Earth. During operation there were several emergency situations, but it still operates and transmits information. Placed into a circular heliocentric orbit

A planet similar to Earth where extraterrestrial existence is possible in size is named Kepler 186f. Kepler's discovery of 186f confirms that in the study area there are stars with planets other than our Sun where life on another planet is possible.
While celestial bodies in the habitable zone have previously been found, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and are less likely to harbor life on larger planets. Kepler-186f looks more like Earth.
"The discovery of Kepler 186f represents a significant step toward the search for worlds like our planet Earth," say NASA astrophysicists at the agency's headquarters in Washington. Although Kepler-186f's size is known, its mass and composition have not yet been determined.

Now we know of only one planet where life exists - Earth.

When we search for life beyond our solar system, we focus on finding celestial bodies with characteristics that are similar to Earth. WITH whether life exists on another planet will, of course, be revealed over time.

• Planet Kepler-186f is located in the Kepler-186 system, about 500 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
• The system is also home to four planetary satellites that orbit a star half the size and mass of our Sun.
• The star is classified as an M dwarf or red dwarf, a class of stars that makes up 70% of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. M dwarfs are the most numerous stars. Possible signs of life in the galaxy could also come from planets orbiting the M dwarf.
• Kepler-186f orbits its star every 130 days and receives one-third the energy from its star that Earth receives from the Sun, closer to the edges of the habitable zone.
• On the surface of Kepler-186f, the star's brightness matches the brightness when our Sun shines about an hour before sunset.

Being in the habitable zone does not mean that we know that this celestial body is suitable for life. The temperature on a planet is highly dependent on the planet's atmosphere. Kepler-186f can be thought of as Earth's cousin, with many properties that resemble our planet, rather than a twin.

The planet's four moons Kepler 186b, Kepler 186c, Kepler 186d and Kepler-186e orbit their sun every four, seven, 13 and 22 days, respectively, making them too hot for life.
The next steps to determine whether there is life on other planets include measuring their chemical composition, determining atmospheric conditions, and continuing humanity's quest to find truly Earth-like worlds.

conclusions

Scientists have long believed that life on Earth first evolved in warm, highly hospitable pools and then colonized more complex environments. Many people now think that life began on the outskirts, in very hostile places, and then migrated in the other direction to better places.

Much of the motivation for this complete reversal of thinking stems from the need to find life on other planets. Scientists should welcome the search for extraterrestrial life, although many experiments will continue to yield null results, disproving the evolutionary theory of origin.

Private Educational Institution School “Choice”

Research

Subject:

“Is there life on other planets?”

Bukiya Sofya and Kurochkina Anna, 3rd grade.

Moscow

2016-2017

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever wondered if there is life on other planets? We noticed that scientists argue a lot on this topic.

We've always wondered if there are aliens.

Relevance

In the modern world, life on other planets is of great importance, since people are interested in knowing whether we have neighbors on the planet.

Goal of the work

Tasks

Goal of the work -

1. Find out the conditions that allow life to arise on the planet.
2. Determine whether life is possible on the planets of the solar system.
   

QUESTIONNAIRE

Is there life on other planets?

In order to find out what 3rd grade students know about life on other planets, we decided to conduct a survey. 12 people took part in it.

To the first question: “Which planets of the solar system do you know?” the following answers were received: 7 people answered Earth, 11 people answered Mars, 6 people answered Jupiter, 6 people answered Saturn, 2 people answered Neptune, 4 people answered Venus, 2 people answered Mercury, 1 person answered Pluto. Also, several people answered by mistakenly calling the Moon (this is a satellite of the Earth) and the Sun (this is a star)

To the second question: “Do you think life is possible on them?” opinions were divided by the majority - 7 people answered yes, while they clarified that on Mars (3 people) or Saturn (1 person), 3 people were undecided, they answered that they did not know and 2 people answered that life on other planets is not possible

To the third question, “How might this life be different from ours?” Features of gravity and the appearance of the inhabitants were mentioned as differences; properties of air and soil - the most popular answer (4 people), as well as special technologies (2 people).

Also, as an example, most respondents know the planets of the solar system; they admit the presence of other life there in special climatic conditions. Residents most likely differ in appearance and use modern technology.

Practical part

Planet	Photo	Its characteristics	What forms of life are possible
Mars		Mars is one of the smallest planets in the solar system: its mass is equal to a tenth of the mass of the Earth. Mars is located between the Earth and Jupiter, it is the fourth from the Sun. A day on Mars lasts a little longer than on Earth - 24.5 hours. It is known that Mars is red in color due to the large amount of oxidized iron on this planet. The “red” planet has two satellites - Deimos and Phobos. All three celestial bodies - both the planet and its two satellites - are named very ominously: Mars was the name of the god of war in Ancient Rome, Phobos in Greek means “Fear”, and Deimos means “Horror”.	Is there life on Mars? According to some scientists, it was. In the past, Mars, like the Earth, was filled with rivers, volcanoes erupted, and the climate was temperate. The banks of rivers, seas and oceans were covered with abundant vegetation, and the animal world was much more diverse than on Earth. Insects were the most adapted to the living conditions; the leading positions in numbers were occupied by huge mantises and ants. And then the irreparable happened - the rich nature of Mars disappeared along with most of the atmosphere.
Jupiter		Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in the Solar System. It is not for nothing that the ancient Romans called their main god Jupiter. Jupiter is one of the gas giants of the solar system; it does not consist of solid matter, but of a mixture of various gases. Another feature of the planet is the so-called Great Red Spot. Scientists have found that this is a kind of clot formed by clouds that are higher than the rest.	Although no samples have been taken that could test for microscopic life on the planet, there is very little convincing evidence that life cannot exist on this planet. First, let's look at the conditions onJupiter , which exclude the existence of life. The planet is a gas giant composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. There is virtually no water there to support known life forms. The planet does not have a solid surface for life to develop anywhere except for floating microscopic organisms. Free-floating organisms can only exist at the very tops of clouds due to atmospheric pressure, which progresses more than anything on Earth
Saturn		The planet Saturn is one of the brightest objects in our starry sky. Its distinctive feature is the presence of rings. These rings are visible from Earth even with a small telescope. They are made up of thousands and thousands of small, solid pieces of rock and ice that orbit the planet. Once every 14-15 years, the rings of Saturn are not visible from the Earth, as they turn edge-on.	After studying images of Saturn's sixth-largest moon Enceladus, scientists found out that an ocean of salt water is hidden under the frozen surface, which indicates the likelihood of the presence of some forms of life. In the resulting images, strange elongated craters became clearly visible for the first time. These photographs will help scientists complete the mapping of one of Saturn's most interesting moons.
Uranus		Continuing our journey through the solar system, we encounter the seventh planet from the sun and its satellites, collectively called the Uranus system. This is a beautiful and almost faceless giant with a blue-green surface. The thick outer layer of blue gas gives no hint of what may lie underneath. This planet is slightly smaller than its nearest neighbor, Saturn, and is surrounded by thin, small and almost invisible rings. Upon closer examination, you can see that this world is, for unknown reasons, deviated from its axis. There are 27 satellites of different sizes and shapes in its orbit. Five of them are quite large for detailed study. The name of this blue giant is Uranus, and now we will take a closer look at it.	In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, scientists often face accusations of "carbon chauvinism" because they expect other life forms in the universe to be composed of the same biochemical building blocks as us, structuring their search accordingly. But life may well be different - and people are wondering about it - so let's explore ten possible biological and non-biological systems that expand the definition of "life".
Neptune		As soon as we leave Uranus's colorful blue-green atmosphere behind, we immediately encounter another giant blue world almost the same size. However, this planet is slightly different in appearance - it is characterized by thin white clouds and dark blue patches in the atmosphere. Until recently, one of them, like a giant eye, loomed among the blue, reminiscent of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. 13 moons and several tiny rings surround this planet. One of these satellites is quite large and is named Triton.	This is a planet with future new life that has a magnetic component. They will generate electricity for themselves, as they have electromagnetism. This is a future highly developed race in the initial stage of its development. These are liquid aquatic, underwater and surface forms of intelligent life, different in their types.
Venus		Venus and Earth are often called twins because they are similar in size, mass, density, composition and gravity. However, the commonalities end there. Interesting fact: Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system and the second from the Sun, after Mercury. Although Venus is not the closest planet to the Sun, its dense atmosphere, the so-called heat trap, creates a greenhouse effect that also warms the Earth.	It is unlikely that it will be possible to explore even the closest exoplanets using automatic spacecraft in the current century. It is quite possible, however, that the answer can be found very close by, on our closest neighbor in the solar system - Venus.
Mercury		Mercury - the planet closest to the Sun Due to the slight inclination of Mercury's rotation axis to the plane of its orbit, there are no noticeable seasonal changes on this planet. Mercury has no satellites. Mercury is a small planet. Its mass is a twentieth of the mass of the Earth, and its radius is 2.5 times less than that of the Earth.	Mercury is the world of extremes. The temperature on the Sunny Side is 450 degrees, and in some areas that have never been exposed to the sun's rays the temperature is -173 degrees. I don't think life has ever existed on the planet. Scientists believe that life is possible on other planets with conditions close to those on Earth.

Mars - Many people believe that life on Mars is possible. But there are some errors in this statement. After all, to this day, life on Mars has changed. Because under the influence of the atmosphere, life disappeared. But this remains a mystery even to scientists.

Jupiter - life on Jupiter has not been studied and has not been proven that it exists. But it is possible that microscopic alien life could live on gas clouds.

Saturn scientists have found that beneath the frozen surface lies an ocean of salty water, which indicates the likelihood of the presence of some form of life.

Uranium scientists believe that other lifeforms in the Universe will be composed of the same biochemical building blocks as we are, structuring their search accordingly. But life could very well be different

Neptune - This planet with future new life, which has a magnetic component. Residents will generate electricity for themselves, as they have electromagnetism.

Venus - life on it cannot be determined. The pressure on it is very high.

Mercury - Scientists believe that life is possible on other planets with conditions close to those on Earth.

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