Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009

By Richard Pogge

Natural Sciences Education

What's Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009 about?

Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is a one-quarter introduction to

Astrobiology for non-science majors taught at The Ohio State University.

This podcast presents audio recordings of Professor Richard Pogge's

lectures from his Autumn Quarter 2009 class. All of the lectures were

recorded live in 1005 Smith Laboratory on the OSU Main Campus in Columbus,

Ohio.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009 episodes:

12.04.2009
Lecture 46: This View of Life (Course Finale)
Course finale and summary. We look back over where we've been the last eleven weeks, and bring together all of the main themes of this course on Life in the Universe. Recorded live on 2009 Dec 4 in Room 1005...
12.03.2009
Lecture 45: The Future of Life in the Universe
How will life, the Universe, and everything end? This lecture looks at the evolution of our expanding Universe to project the prospects for life into the distant cosmological future. Recent observations show that we live in an infinite, accelerating universe. ...
12.02.2009
Lecture 44: The Future of Life in the Solar System
What is the future of life on Earth and in our Solar System? The Sun is the source of energy for life on the Earth, but it will not shine forever. This lecture looks at the impact of the various...
12.01.2009
Lecture 43: Extraterrestrial Life
What does extraterrestrial life look like? This lecture explores current thinking about what extraterrestrial life might be like not by guessing their appearances, but instead applying lessons learned from our growing understanding of how evolution and biochemistry work on Earth. I will...
11.30.2009
Lecture 42: The Fermi Paradox
So, Where is Everybody? Interstellar colonization, in principle, is an exponential growth process that would fill the galaxy in a few million years even with a very modest star flight capability. This is a small fraction of the lifetime of the...
11.25.2009
Lecture 41: Interstellar Travel and Colonization
If we ever detect life elsewhere, how will we go visit? This lecture considers the challenges of interstellar travel and colonization. The problem is one of basic physics (the enormous energy requirements of star flight) coupled with the vast, irreducible distances...
11.24.2009
Lecture 40: SETI - The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
Is anybody out there? This lecture reviews the ideas behind SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, an effort to find other intelligent communicating civilizations by tuning in on their radio or other electromagnetic communications. I will discuss the basic approaches being taken...
11.23.2009
Lecture 39: The Drake Equation
How many intelligent, communicating civilizations live in our Galaxy? We have no idea. One way to approach the question and come up with quasi-quantitative estimates is the Drake Equation, first introduced by radio astronomy Frank Drake in the 1960s. I will...
11.19.2009
Lecture 38: The Pale Blue Dot - Seeking Other Earths
Are there other Earths out there? Do they have life on them? This lecture looks at the search for ExoEarths - Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of their parent stars, and what we might learn from measuring them. The...
11.18.2009
Lecture 37: Strange New Worlds
What are the properties of the 400+ exoplanets we have discovered so far? This lecture reviews the properties of exoplanets, and finds a couple of surprises: Jupiter-mass planets orbiting close to their parent stars, and Jupiter-mass planets in very elliptical orbits. ...
11.17.2009
Lecture 36: Exoplanets - Planets Around Other Stars
Are there planets around other stars? This lecture reviews the methods used to hunt for exoplanets and the results thus far. I will describe direct imaging methods, indirect methods relying on the gravitational influence of the planet on its parent star,...
11.16.2009
Lecture 35: The Solar Neighborhood
What stars are near the Sun? Now that we have some idea of what we are looking for - rocky planets in the habitable zones of low-mass main-sequence stars - what are the prospects near the Sun? This lecture examines the...
11.13.2009
Lecture 34: Habitable Zones around Stars
Which stars are the most hospitable for life? This lecture examines the factors affecting the habitability of stars, with a goal of understanding where we should search for life-bearing planets. We will do this by generalizing the idea of a Habitable...
11.12.2009
Lecture 33: The Deaths of Stars
What happens to a star when it runs out of hydrogen in its core? This lecture describes the post main-sequence evolution of stars. What happens depends on the star's mass. Low mass stars swell up into Red Giants, and eventually...
11.10.2009
Lecture 32: The Lives of Stars
Why do stars shine? How long do they shine? This lecture describes the physics of stars on the main sequence, describes the mass-luminosity relation of main sequence stars, introduces nuclear fusion power and the nuclear fusion lifetimes of stars. From...
11.09.2009
Lecture 31: The Properties of Stars
What are the observed properties of stars? This lecture is a quick review of the basic observational properties of stars, introducing luminosity, spectral classification, the luminosity-radius-temperature relation, and the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram. This sets up the empirical basis of subsequent lectures on...
11.05.2009
Lecture 30: Goldilocks and the Three Planets
Why is the Earth habitable today but Venus and Mars not? This lecture explores the question of planetary habitability from the perspective of the stability of liquid water on the surface of planetary bodies. We will see how the amount of...
11.04.2009
Lecture 29: The Children of Saturn
Among the 61 known moons of Saturn, two stand out: Enceladus and Titan. Giant Titan is the only moon in our Solar System with a substantial atmosphere, composed of nitrogen and methane, dense enough to maintain a weather cycle with methane analogous to...
11.03.2009
Lecture 28: The Galilean Moons of Jupiter
The four large Galilean Moons of Jupiter seem unlikely places to look for life; at first glance they should be cold, dead, icy worlds. Instead we find tremendous geological diversity, and two big surprises: volcanically-active Io, and icy Europa. Io is the...
11.02.2009
Lecture 27: Is There Life on Mars?
Is there life on Mars? We begin with a brief historical survey of the idea of inhabitable Mars, from Herschel to Lowell, and look at how the idea of Mars and Martians is deeply embedded in the popular culture....
10.30.2009
Lecture 26: The Deserts of Mars
For many, the most likely place in the Solar System to search for life beyond the Earth is Mars. This lecture describes the properties of Mars, a desert world with a thin, dry, cold carbon dioxide atmosphere. I will review evidence that...
10.29.2009
Lecture 25: The Requirements for Life in the Solar System
Having completed our tour of the Solar System, we now turn to a discussion of the requirements for life, and where those requirements might be satisfied elsewhere in the Solar System. Some - energy, complex chemistry, and liquid water - seem obvious,...
10.28.2009
Lecture 24: The Jovian Planets
We turn our attention to the Giant Planets of the outer Solar System: the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. We will review their structure and properties, and then examine their systems of...
10.27.2009
Lecture 23: Terrestrial Worlds in Comparison
We follow our tour of our Solar System with an in-depth comparison of the Terrestrial Planets. In particular, we want to contrast and compare their geological and atmospheric histories. This will inform our inquiry into whether or not we expect to...
10.26.2009
Lecture 22: The Family of the Sun
This first lecture of Unit 4 - Life in the Solar System - is a quick tour of our Solar System reviewing the planets, dwarf planets, moons, and small bodies that make up our celestial home. This lecture will introduce many of...
10.22.2009
Lecture 21: Impacts and Extinction
We end our exploration of life on the Earth with a look at death in the fossil record. This lecture looks at the role asteroidal impacts have played in the history of the Earth, and their possible role in mass extinction events...
10.21.2009
Lecture 20: The History of Life on Earth
In this lecture we step back and look at the history of life on Earth from the first signs of life at start of the Archaean Eon 3.5 billion years ago to just up to the present day. We will review...
10.20.2009
Lecture 19: The Origin of Life on Earth
How did life arise from non-life? Frankly, we don't know, but current experimental work is aimed at trying to understand how it might work in biochemical terms. This lecture sets out the problem of "abiogenesis", and describes our current thinking about...
10.19.2009
Lecture 18: The First Living Things on Earth
What are the first recognizable forms of life that we find in the geological record? How far back can we go in geological time and still find life? This lecture reviews three lines of evidence that have emerged in recent years...
10.16.2009
Lecture 17: Life on the Edge
Extremophiles are organisms that are adapted to survive in extreme environments. This lecture describes the challenges that extremes of heat, cold, acidity, salinity, and radiation pose to organisms, and show examples of how evolution has nonetheless allowed some organisms to adapt to...
10.15.2009
Lecture 16: DNA and Heredity
DNA and RNA are the key molecules of living cells. DNA plays a vital role in storing and transmitting the hereditary information that constitutes the "operating instructions" of living cells; how to construct the functional and structural proteins that perform vital cell...
10.14.2009
Lecture 15: The Chemistry of Life
What is the basic chemistry of living organisms? We introduce the requirements for metabolism (raw materials and energy), the ATP/ADP energy cycle in cells, auto- and heterotrophs, photosynthesis and chemosynthesis, and the role played by liquid water. The goal of today's lecture...
10.13.2009
Lecture 14: Cells
Cells are the basic structural and functional unit of all life on Earth. This lecture reviews the basic building blocks of cells, the main chemical components, the two basic types of cells (Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes), and introduces the Phylogenetic Tree of Life, the...
10.12.2009
Lecture 13: What is Life?
How do we define life? This lecture reviews the six basic criteria for living systems described by biologists: order, reproduction, growth and development, energy utilization, reaction to environment, and evolution that characterize life. The last third of the lecture is an...
10.08.2009
Lecture 12: Climate Regulation and Climate Change
What are the main mechanisms of climate regulation and climate change that have operated through Earth's history? The Earth's climate is regulated by a Carbon Dioxide thermostat that is the interaction between the Greenhouse Effect and the CO2 Cycle. I describe the...
10.07.2009
Lecture 11: The History of the Earth
How have we pieced together the geological history of the Earth? This lecture reviews the different types of rocks and the cycle of transformation between them, with particular emphasis on stratigraphy. I will outline the 4 major Eons in Earth's history,...
10.06.2009
Lecture 10: The Earth's Atmosphere Erratum
This lecture was to be about the Earth's atmosphere, its composition and structure, the greenhouse effect, and the primordial atmosphere, but about 2 seconds into the lecture, unbeknownst to me, the battery compartment on my digital voice recorder came open in my pocket....
10.05.2009
Lecture 9: Inside the Earth
What is the interior structure of the Earth and how does it drive the Earth's magnetic and geologic activity? We will review our current knowledge of the interior of the Earth, how we measure it using Seismology, the origins of the Earth's...
10.02.2009
Lecture 8: The Cosmological Revolution - The Depths of Space and Time
Cosmology is the study of the entire Universe as a physical system. The past century has witnessed a revolution in cosmological thought that has revealed the vastness of space and the depths of cosmic time, a revolution that is still playing...
10.01.2009
Lecture 7: The Biological Revolution - What is Life?
What is the nature of life? In this lecture I will review the revolution in biological thinking that has dramatically changed how we view life. I will review such persistent ancient ideas as spontaneous generation and why it...
09.30.2009
Lecture 6: The Geological Revolution - Deep Time and the Age of the Earth
The geological revolution revealed that the Earth is of great antiquity and yet has a history we can read in the land. We will discuss ideas of cyclic and linear time, historical versus physical age estimates, the discovery of geological...
09.29.2009
Lecture 5: The Chemical Revolution and the Nature of Matter
What is the nature of matter, and how did we come to understand the chemical elements and atomic structure? This lecture is a brief and selective overview of the history of our understanding of the nature of matter and chemistry. We...
09.28.2009
Lecture 4: The Copernican Revolution
Modern science was borne of an effort over many centuries to understand the motions of celestial bodies. The Copernican Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries was the crucial moment in history when we finally understood the nature of celestial motions, and...
09.25.2009
Lecture 3: Imagining Other Worlds
What is the cultural history of our imaginings of other worlds and their possible inhabitants? I will draw examples from history, philosophy, literature, cinema, and popular culture. In the end, our imaginings about other worlds inform us more about...
09.24.2009
Lecture 2: Astronomical Numbers
An introduction and review of the basic notation and physical units we will be using throughout this course. In particular, we will be using the Metric (SI) system for lengths, masses, times, and temperatures, and special astronomical units for distances (AU and...
09.23.2009
Lecture 1: Introduction
A brief overview of the topics we will cover in Astronomy 141, setting the stage for how we can make a serious scientific inquiry out of the question of whether or not there is life elsewhere in the Universe. It is a...
09.23.2009
Welcome to Astronomy 141
Welcome to the Astronomy 141 Lecture Podcasts. This is a brief message from me explaining the podcasts, and welcoming new and old listeners. University. Lectures will begin on Wednesday, 2009 Sept 23, and run through Friday, 2009 Dec 4. New...

What's Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009 about?

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Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009 episodes:

Lecture 46: This View of Life (Course Finale)

Lecture 45: The Future of Life in the Universe

Lecture 44: The Future of Life in the Solar System

Lecture 43: Extraterrestrial Life

Lecture 42: The Fermi Paradox

Lecture 41: Interstellar Travel and Colonization

Lecture 40: SETI - The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

Lecture 39: The Drake Equation

Lecture 38: The Pale Blue Dot - Seeking Other Earths

Lecture 37: Strange New Worlds

Lecture 36: Exoplanets - Planets Around Other Stars

Lecture 35: The Solar Neighborhood

Lecture 34: Habitable Zones around Stars

Lecture 33: The Deaths of Stars

Lecture 32: The Lives of Stars

Lecture 31: The Properties of Stars

Lecture 30: Goldilocks and the Three Planets

Lecture 29: The Children of Saturn

Lecture 28: The Galilean Moons of Jupiter

Lecture 27: Is There Life on Mars?

Lecture 26: The Deserts of Mars

Lecture 25: The Requirements for Life in the Solar System

Lecture 24: The Jovian Planets

Lecture 23: Terrestrial Worlds in Comparison

Lecture 22: The Family of the Sun

Lecture 21: Impacts and Extinction

Lecture 20: The History of Life on Earth

Lecture 19: The Origin of Life on Earth

Lecture 18: The First Living Things on Earth

Lecture 17: Life on the Edge

Lecture 16: DNA and Heredity

Lecture 15: The Chemistry of Life

Lecture 14: Cells

Lecture 13: What is Life?

Lecture 12: Climate Regulation and Climate Change

Lecture 11: The History of the Earth

Lecture 10: The Earth's Atmosphere Erratum

Lecture 9: Inside the Earth

Lecture 8: The Cosmological Revolution - The Depths of Space and Time

Lecture 7: The Biological Revolution - What is Life?

Lecture 6: The Geological Revolution - Deep Time and the Age of the Earth

Lecture 5: The Chemical Revolution and the Nature of Matter

Lecture 4: The Copernican Revolution

Lecture 3: Imagining Other Worlds

Lecture 2: Astronomical Numbers

Lecture 1: Introduction

Welcome to Astronomy 141