1 / 14

The earth photographed from 3.7 billion miles away, by Voyager I in 1990 as it left our solar system.

The earth photographed from 3.7 billion miles away, by Voyager I in 1990 as it left our solar system. . How does it make you feel ? Insignificant? Special?. We are alien explorers We want to investigate the pale blue dot We need to travel closer

minda
Download Presentation

The earth photographed from 3.7 billion miles away, by Voyager I in 1990 as it left our solar system.

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The earth photographed from 3.7 billion miles away, by Voyager I in 1990 as it left our solar system. How does it make you feel ? Insignificant? Special?

  2. We are alien explorers • We want to investigate the pale blue dot • We need to travel closer • It will take us 5 ½ hours to reach the pale blue dot—traveling at the speed of light.

  3. We’re finally close enough to make some observations

  4. Observation 1: We’re not surprised to see white clouds of H2O vapor and solid H2O ice caps. But oceans of liquid H2O are unique !

  5. Observation 2:We’re not surprised by oxygen (O) but this atmosphere is rich in oxygen gas, O2 What is producing so muchO2 ?

  6. Observation no. 3: There are green patches on the mostly brown continents. The green suggests something unusual

  7. Our Observations of the pale blue dot planet: • Oceans of liquid H2O • Atmosphere rich in O2 • Green areas on continents What is the relationship between these Observations ?

  8. Hypothesis 1: Some process must be splitting the H2O to form oxygen. • Hypothesis 2: The green stuff must be involved in this process. • Hypothesis 3: There is a delicate balance: the atmosphere holds just enough heat to keep H2O in liquid form.

  9. We are in awe. This is a totally unique planet • Oceans of liquid H2O • Abundant oxygen gas (O2) in atmosphere • A special something that can split H2O and release O2 (Us earthlings know the “something” as plant life and the unique process as photosynthesis)

  10. What about other planets in this same solar system--might there be others like this blue planet? Perhaps we should investigate a nearby planet, one that receives about the same solar energy as earth—not too hot and not too cold.

  11. The red planet has no atmosphere and no obvious life forms

  12. But this red planet seems very much like the blue planet: rocky, with evidence of liquid water.

  13. Could this red planet have been warmer and wetter and supported life in the past? Is the history of the red planet the future of the blue planet?

  14. ConclusionsThe earth is unique. It is the only planet we know that has: 1) Oceans of water (liquid H2O) 2) Atmosphere with abundant (20%) oxygen gas (O2) 3) Life!

More Related