When We Leave Earth - Can We Find Another Home?

When We Leave Earth

Table of Contents

Introduction: Can we find another home? Pg. 3

Part 1: Ways in which life as we know it could end Pg. 4

 Asteroid

 At our own hands

 The sun dies.

Part 2: How to find a planet Pg. 5

* Indirect Methods

* Transit Method

* Direct Methods

Part 3: Finding an Earth like Planet Pg. 6

* Habitable zones around stars

* Examining the atmospheres by spectroscope

* Future Methods

Part 4: Getting There Pg. 7

* Huge distances

* Interstellar Space Craft

* Transplanting the seeds of life

Conclusion: Can we find another home and get there?

Can we find Another Home?

From my experience, Hollywood is great at finding ways to destroy the Earth. An asteroid the size of Texas could probably do the job, or maybe a pandemic or a good old fashioned exploding star. Whatever the method, the possible end result would not be as entertaining, the end of human life on this planet. Though science fiction movies portray these events, they are not based entirely on fiction, they could possibly happen. It seems to me that a basic animal instinct of man kind is survival. We want to live. So if the Earth was about to be destroyed in some fashion, can we find another home? Is there Another Earth like planet out there, somewhere, waiting to be found? If so, how do we find it and more importantly, how do we get there?

We have found other planets outside of our own solar system, over 6801. Creative methods over the past 15 years or so have found them. Some of these methods are indirect. In other words, we can't see the planet, but we know its there. Other methods are direct and we have actually observed the planets. In some cases, we can even analyze the atmosphere of these planets.

So there may be hope after all, but what about getting there. Finding another Earth like planet would be kind of a mute point if we have no way to get there. The problem is simple enough, huge distances. Light years separate us from these planets. So even if we traveled at the speed of light, which would be an impressive feat in itself, it would still take a very long time to get there. Even so, methods for interstellar travel are being explored. I think that mankind's will to survive will someday take us to the stars and to a new home.

Part 1: Ways in which life as we know it could end

The Earth is in essence a giant space ship with everything that is necessary to sustain human life in the vast vacuum of space. But what if someday we were forced to abandon ship and what kind of devastating event would force us to do so? An impending impact from an asteroid large enough to be considered a global killer is one scenario. What about us? Are we a danger to ourselves? A pandemic spread from person to person, could in theory, wipe out our entire existence. These are things that may or may not happen, but there is one scenario that will, though a very long time from now, destroy the Earth and all life on it. It is the sun, the very thing that allows for life to exist on Earth. It will someday, destroy our planet.

The sun will eventually balloon into a red giant, about 5 billion years from now2. As the hydrogen fuel source is used up, the expanding star will consume some of the inner planets, and scour the Earth. I would think that this would give us enough time to find a new Earth located just the right distance from a younger star where we will be able to continue our existence. But why wait? Scientist today are looking for and finding planets outside of our solar system orbiting other stars and we could find one that is just right for human life. I heard once, though I can't reference it as a fact, that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all of the beaches of the world. That to me makes the odes of finding another planet similar to Earth orbiting one of those stars pretty good. Along with finding these planets, scientists are also exploring ways that we might actually get there and ultimately save the human race.

Part 2: How to find a planet

There are a few ways to go about looking for a planet outside of our solar system. There are indirect methods by which we can infer their presence by the way in which they affect the light coming from the star it is orbiting. Among these are the astrometric method, the Doppler method, the radial velocity method, and gravitational microlensing3. Then there is the transit method, an indirect method which can also observe the light not just from the star, but also from the planet. Direct methods of observing a planet means that we have to observe the light and heat given off by the planet itself.

Indirect Methods

Observing a planet indirectly means that we are not actually seeing the planet but we know that it is there. The astrometric method is one way in which this can be accomplished. This method makes use of the gravitational affects of a planet or planets orbiting a star. A planet and its star rotate around each other upon a combined center of mass called a barycenter4. Where this center of mass lies is dependant upon the mass of the star and the mass of the planet. Using Jupiter as an example, the barycenter between it and the sun lies just outside the suns radius5. This produces an affect, as Jupiter orbits the sun, which is at the heart of this method. It makes the sun wobble. If we observe a distant star wobbling, we know there is a planet or planets orbiting it. This method works well for finding Jupiter size planets, but so well for finding small

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