Posted on 01/07/2002 8:54:10 AM PST by RightWhale
curious>>
Very narrowband signals from space do not occur naturally. So we are looking for that very signature. We are not looking for any modulation or intelligence in the signal; just the presence of a narrowband signal is enough.
The search I am involved in does not look for any radio signals purposely beamed at us. I am looking for another race that has developed far enough down the technological road to have developed radio like we have. There appears to be only 4 fundamental forces in all of nature; Strong Force, Weak Force, Gravity, and Electromagnetism EM. Both the strong force and Weak force are confined to the nucleus of the atom. Gravity requires prodigious amounts of energy to manipulate, so the only one that is practical for long distance communication is EM. In an extremely short period of time, we are using EM across the entire spectrum from basically DC to light. We are now radiating that same spectrum into outer space. In fact at certain frequencies, we are the brightest object in the known heavens. So what we are looking for, is a race that is doing the same thing we are, unintentional radiation of radio wave into outer space in all directions. To up the odds a bit, we have decided to point our dishes strait down our own spiral arm. This give us the maximum number of stars in each patch of the sky we are looking at. We also are looking at multiple frequencies. My modest little search is looking a 3.1 million frequencies (soon to be 30 million) for the duration of any object in the beam path of our antennas.
What? Jupiter would have to be huge to do accomplish this in any significant manner. Instead, Jupiter is really quite small compared to -- what is not Jupiter.
...and you used it quite well!
You are not alone...in your theory that is ;^)
Not only are the conditions extremely rare... but more importantly, the size of the universe is sooooo vast that even if there are intelligent critters out there who can communicate with us (extreeeeeemly doubtful), then it's ludicrous to me that we could receive their transmissions and then we could communicate back with them.
Given the speed of light, there's no way we could even dialog with any other beings (nevertheless meet 'em). That space-time continuum is a real pain in the neck. Not unless someone can travel at Star Trek speeds. And the beamer would help immensely too.
Personnaly, I base my 'theory' on the my beliefs that the creator of the universe came to this planet in the form of a human being and he then proceeded to let himself be killed for our sins. If God loves mankind that much, then obviously we are extreeeeemely special to Him (which I interpret as unique). Mankind's dominion over the planet confirms this.
I think technology is a wonderful thing as it only helps us to get a better glimpse of the greatness of the Almighty.
Jupiter contains more mass than all the rest of the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, gas, and dust in the solar system combined. Excluding the sun.
That's about the size of it. I don't know if that precludes other people on other planets, but as far as we are concerned the attention was special. The human race was in big, big trouble. Might still be, but at least we have a shot at getting it right.
Jupiter contains more mass than all the rest of the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, gas, and dust in the solar system combined. Excluding the sun.
Mass -- yes. Asteroid blocking volume -- Jupiter is really quite small compared to -- what is not Jupiter
I think I see where you are with this.
Jupiter's influence is gravitational. It doesn't physically shield the inner solar system with its bulk, but works through its immense gravity field. The effect is that of a guide: it sweeps most loose rocks of all sizes into orbits that stay outside the inner solar system, where we are. The amount of loose rock coming near earth is almost zero, excepting the one that just missed us yesterday. Without Jupiter, rocks would be flying every direction and earth would would be pounded into rubble on a regular basis. If Jupiter were even bigger, superjovian, 4 times to 10 times more massive, it wouldn't allow even earth to exist, it would sweep that up, too.
Super-jovian Thanks!
Ah, assuming it was in the same orbit as Real Jupiter, right? If its orbit was farther away, we could get by with a bigger Jupiter than that, right?
I think I remember a science fiction story about a civilization that exists on a planet that has regular cataclysmic events that set back progress. They advance, eventually, but by the time they arrive at the Gallactic Intelligence Party, everyone has already left and moved on. If I remember the story correctly, they left some pretty neat stuff behind. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the story or the author. Oh well.
Or is it that perhaps the amplitude of your harmonic oscillation is decaying ?
Most extrasolar planets discovered so far are larger than Jupiter, superjovian. Most are very near their primary compared to Jupiter's position. In comparison, the solar system is an oddity, not like other star systems we know about.
But in 2006 NASA will launch the Kepler telescope which will scan the stars for earth sized planets. Our state of knowledge of actual planetary systems will improve.
Here are a couple of articles, both fairly current on Kepler and observed planetary systems.
Strange Object Found, Defying Ideas of Solar System Formation
But in 2006 NASA will launch the Kepler telescope which will scan the stars for earth sized planets. Our state of knowledge of actual planetary systems will improve.
Exactly. Which is why I doubt our solar system is nearly such an oddity as the preliminary data suggest. Kepler sounds like it'll be an exciting mission!
For those of you who don't know, "superjovian" planets that are close to their stars are precisely the only kinds of planets that the original planet hunting techniques were able to detect. So of course those are the only types of planets we "knew" were out there! But now that the other technique - observing the star's light level drop slightly as the planet passes in front of it - is being perfected, a more accurate picture of other solar systems is slowly being filled in. Hopefully Kepler will give us a good statistical sampling of alien solar systems, & only then will we get an idea of just how unique our configuration is.
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