If so, how can we truly believe that we are alone?
2007-06-14 07:09:50 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
We may not have found them, but they've certainly found us... Scary isn't it?
2007-06-14 07:29:14 · update #1
It's more like billions of huge stars.and I don't believe that we are alone.
2007-06-15 07:33:19 · answer #1 · answered by Flintstoner 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are between 200 and 400 billion stars in our galaxy. The vast majority of those are small red stars which would not have much of a habitable zone. Others are large blue stars that produce way too much radiation for life to develop. For questions about life, the usual restriction is to look at F,G, and K type stars. These are neither too hot nor too cold.
The real issues for asking whether we are alone, though, are not the numbers of stars, but how easy it is for life to develop and then evolve to intelligence. For the one case we know about (Earth), life developed almost immediately after the planet cooled enough to support liquid water. But it took another 3 billion years for multi-cellualr life to appear and another 800 million years for intelligence to arise. It is my guess that bacterial life is very common in the universe, but that multi-cellular life is much rarer. Even in our solar system, it looks like Mars had the right environment for life, but that it never got past the one celled stage (if it even got that far).
Another huge issue is how long technological races survive after arising. In our own case, we have only had radio technology for 100 years. Do you expect us to last even another 10,000 years? If you compare that to the billions of years for most astronomical phenomena, you see that even this timespan is miniscule compared the large scale. So it is quite possible that other intelligent life has existed or will exist in our galaxy but that it simply won't overlap with us because it died out. We may be alone right now.
2007-06-14 15:02:04 · answer #2 · answered by mathematician 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
'tons' is too weak a word.
An 'average' star, like our sun, is 2x10^30 kg
2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
One star.
The Galaxy's mass (stars + dust + gasses + whatever else) is 1,000,000,000,000 times the mass of the Sun.
Many of us truly believe that the probability of us being alone is small (but it is not zero). The probability that there are others in the galaxy is high (but it is not 100%).
The best tool we have, so far, to determine the probability, is called the Drake equation. However, there is still extensive discussion about some of the factors. Lots of uncertainty.
2007-06-14 14:19:32 · answer #3 · answered by Raymond 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
our galaxy is made up of tons of stars, many are larger than our own star. well some believe that we are alone because we have not spotted a planet in our galaxy that looks like it has intelligent life on it.
2007-06-14 15:11:57 · answer #4 · answered by TrevaThaKilla 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We are definitely NOT alone in this Universe, but the 'other' inhabitants are NOT very friend, and as a matter of FACT, the Bible tells us SATAN and his cohorts, the fallen angels(socalled modern aliens) hate our human GUTS, because we are 'Created in the image of God, and after His(Gods) likeness'!!!! There are NO other humans out there in the immensity of space because God the Creator in His eternal, divine and SMART reasoning, doesn't want multitude billions of other SINNERS like we humans to mess up His other Earth like planets!!! The other Earth like planets are definently out there, but the people living on them will have to way until the SIN and REBELLION issues are eterally settled FIRST before we SEE any other human 'aliens' from other planets!!! In a few short years we will be able to SEE other Earth-like planets in near(few light years away) star systems like our Solar System, but we will NOT find intelligent life on them, unless Satan or one of his cohort fallen angel groupies, is found living there!!!
2007-06-14 14:30:32 · answer #5 · answered by Old Truth Traveler 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Tons? There are in between 200 and 400 BILLION stars in our galaxy. Anyone who thinks we are alone is................not thinking!
2007-06-14 14:20:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
why do you say small? some are freaken huge
we are not alone- we just have not found any other life forms
its sorta like hide and seek, you search for them but you cant find them, yet you know they are out their
2007-06-14 14:15:04 · answer #7 · answered by Flaming Pope 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tons and tons.
The odds are we are not alone.
.
2007-06-14 14:14:14 · answer #8 · answered by Robert L 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋