Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org

Today's 2 topics:

- Astronomers are searching the solar system for new planets. Calculations based on the orbits of the distant objects out near Pluto suggest the existence of a 10 Earth mass planet twenty times farther from the Sun than the planet Neptune. At its great distance the hypothetical new "Planet 9" would take 20,000 years or so to make a single orbit about the Sun. The search for "Planet 9" has begun. Until we have images of it moving through the night sky it will continue to be a theoretical curiosity.

- Humans are searching the Universe to discover life outside of our Planet.

You could wake up any morning to the news that humans have found life beyond our planet. It could be fossils of ancient life on Mars. It could be the discovery of micro organisms in one of the salty oceans on the asteroid Ceres, the moons of Jupiter, Europa and Ganymede, and/or Enceladus the strange little moon of Saturn. It could be the reception of electromagnetic signals from a distant advanced civilization. Lacking hard evidence many of us continue to look into the night sky and wonder what is out there

 

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