Astrobiology Society

NASA has arguably made the most major contributions to the field of science, astronomy, and even socio-economics. From the International Space Station to the Hubble Space Telescope, let’s explore the purposes and achievements of some of the most remarkable spacecrafts designed and launched in the 1900s. 🛰🚀

Some observations have lead scientists to believe that there may be a ninth planet in our solar system, 10 times the mass of the earth. The two main reasons are…
1) Six of the most distant known Kuiper belt objects (celestial objects found in the Kuiper belt; a region in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 AU to approximately 50 AU from the Sun) have orbits that can only be explained if a massive object’s gravity was pulling on them.
2) Initially, it was predicted that Planet Nine's gravity would cause another set of Kuiper belt objects to have orbits perpendicular to Planet Nine's orbit.🪐 Since then, five objects have that fit this description have been discovered.
Nonetheless, some astronomers question this hypothesis, and assert that the strange orbits is due to observing biases, resulting from the difficulty of discovering and tracking these objects during much of the year.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, was put together 12 billion years ago. Our solar system formed in the outer reaches of the Milky Way 4.5 billion years ago.
In the centre of the Milky Way is a bar-shaped galactic bulge which harbours a supermassive black hole as massive as 4 million suns. Surrounding this central budge is a thin disk of stars 2000 light-years thick, and roughly 100,000 light-years across. Around this galactic disk is a faint halo that contains the oldest stars in the galaxy.⭐️
The Milky Way is a member of a small cluster of galaxies called the Local Group. In several billion years, it is likely our galaxy will collide and merge with Andromeda to form one huge elliptical galaxy. 🌌

Space debris is a growing problem as we plan to launch more spacecrafts into orbit around Earth. They are usually a result of spacecrafts which have exploded, and the remaining pieces stay in orbit. These pieces are dangerous due to their likelihood of colliding with functioning spacecrafts and damaging them. Debris catalogues, evasive manoeuvres and debris shields are currently being used to mitigate the situation, but further action is needed to ensure the problem does not escalate. 🛰

Space exploration and research is undoubtedly essential, and through it, not only have we gained valuable insights into the science of our solar system and phenomena such as gravity, it has also benefitted us in terms of improving communication, providing weather reports, and more. However, with the number of rockets that are planned to be launched increasing within the next few years, CO2 emissions from the space industry may begin to become a serious issue for climate change on Earth. How can we find an appropriate balance? ⚖️🚀

Who doesn’t like a great pub quiz and a reward? 🏆
Join us on Thursday at 7pm to test your knowledge and have a few drinks with your friends! 🍻🧠

Although there are many hypotheses that have been suggested to describe how the moon originated and where from, the Giant-Impact Hypothesis, which suggests that the moon resulted from a collision between an older Earth and a planet named Theia, is the most accepted theory.💥
This is because it explains phenomena such as the Earth's spin and the Moon's orbit having similar orientations, how the stable-isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, and more. 🌕

Traveling to space can negatively affect many different aspects of the human body. For example, due to prolonged exposure to radiation, cancer and degenerative diseases are likely to occur. Additionally, the lack of gravity in outer space can cause the same amount of bone mass loss in one month that a woman with postmenopausal osteoporosis can lose in one year! A big thank you to all the astronauts who sacrifice their health for the sake of progressing science and research. 🔬🧑‍🚀

We have partnered with Coursera, the world’s biggest provider of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), to deliver you the best online astrobiology courses. If you want quality education within the field, the courses in this list are convenient, use the latest technology, allow you to access world-leading institutions and academics, and are fully flexible and accessible. Head on over to astrobiologysociety.com/resources/education and scroll down to “Explore our selected astrobiology courses“ to find out more! 💻🪐

It isn't only the beauty of the night sky that thrills me. It's the sense l
have that some of those points of light are the home stars of beings not
so different from us….who look across space with wonder, just as we do. ⭐️
- Frank Drake