We humans have wondered since the beginning, “Are we alone in the universe? “. We still have not answered that question yet. We have found many kinds of life on Earth from small viruses to huge Humpback Whales. We also know about the species that have come before us but unfortunately don’t exist anymore. Dinosaurs are one of them and they have become extinct many hundred million years ago. Humans have definitely not figured out every life on earth. According to some sources, we have not even figured out 0.01 percent of life on earth. Many people are still exploring through the vast oceans, jungles, deserts, icebergs trying to find new kinds of life. Humans are also researching for life beyond earth as well. NASA has already classified some planets or moons as potentially habitable. Some of them are within our reach in the solar system.
To begin with, what makes a planet habitable? Let’s look at the Earth as a guideline. First, the planet must be rich in chemical compounds such as carbon, oxygen, and water. Carbon is necessary for organic compounds to form. Oxygen and Water is necessary for life to survive and thrive on the planet. Most of the species on earth live based off of Oxygen and Water while made up of many Organic compounds that contain many carbon atoms. Second, the planet must have a sustainable atmosphere. Earth has an ozone layer that insulates the planet. The ozone layer keeps earth at the ideal temperature where life can flourish. It also blocks harmful radiation from coming in and harming the environment. Third, the planet possesses a strong magnetic field. The earth’s core is made of metals such as Iron and Nickel that creates magnetic fields when rotated. This magnetic field blocks harmful solar radiations or flares coming to earth. The magnetic field protects the atmosphere from blowing away. Lastly, the planet must be in the right distance from its star. Jupiter is too far away from the sun making the planet too cold for life. Mercury is too close to the sun which makes it too hot. Earth is in the perfect temperature for life to flourish.
Venus is assumed to have harbored life many billions of years ago during the early years of the solar system. Mars is the planet that many space missions are hoping to land. NASA’s Perserverence Rover was launched from earth on July, 2020 to research more about the habitability of Mars. One of the strong signs of life on Mars is the famous Jezero Crater. It clearly shows the water lines that were once flowing on the surface and the crater where the water flew in to make a lake. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX is planning to make Mars habitable again in the near future. Another candidate for life is Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. Europa has an ice covered surface and an ocean beneath it. Titan is one of the moons of Saturn and has a hard icy surface with an underground ocean. Titan has a dense atmosphere making it one of the most likely places of life. Finally, Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has an icy surface over the underground ocean. It spews out water vapors and ice particles from underground like a geyser.
We once thought we were the only beings in the universe. Now we know that there are many possibilities of life in the solar system alone. If we expand that to the outside of the solar system, there will be billions more planets that can sustain life. Kepler Space Telescope and TESS have already found many habitable planets and we are still finding more. When we find the first species outside earth in the future, the world will be astonished and we will come one step closer to understanding ourselves and the cosmos.
