Are We Alone?

That is the very question that mankind has been trying to answer for countless millennia and up to this very moment in our history on this planet. From Galileo to the Hubble Telescope, our view of space has increased ten fold. Can you believe that it was just over 500 years ago that we believe the earth was the center of the solar system (Catholic Church propaganda)? Our current technology has given us an unprecedented view of our world and the worlds surrounding us, but we have a long way to go before we enter the “Star Trek” age of intergalactic exploration. Our view of the universe is still primitive, but progressive and that is what propels us forward in our search for the answer to the ultimate question.

But first, we have to scratch the surface of our own solar system. If you are alive and breathing there is a good chance that you have some basic knowledge of our solar system, i.e. the order of the planets, etc… We are just now investigating one of our closest neighbors, Mars (the red planet) more intensely and will undoubtedly be the first foreign world that mankind will visit. We didn’t get our first close up look at the outer planets until the early 1980’s with the Voyager missions. Voyager 1 is the furthest man made object from Earth (and still “talking”) at the very edge of the solar system, or the sun’s influence. Voyager 1 or 2 may very well be our introduction to a foreign world one day.

Oddly enough, I heard from one of Earth’s “outer cousins” the other night, Jupiter. Don’t worry; I haven’t completely lost it (yet). The next time you happen to find yourself on a deserted highway out in the middle of nowhere (where I’m at) and listening to AM radio, listen closely while browsing through the various stations. Mostly you will hear static, but on the off chance that you hear “radar like sounds,” pecking, pings, or other various high pitched sounds, it is indeed Jupiter “talking.” Specifically it is the remains of Jupiter’s massive 450 million mile magnetosphere. Bet you didn’t know that. Even one of Jupiter’s moons (there are 63 of them), Europa may harbor life in it’s oceans that are locked under ice.

Besides our own solar system, one needs to think even more abstractly to comprehend the odds that we are not alone. Our solar system is located on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, an absolutely massive collection of stars and other space objects. If you think our own galaxy is massive, there are millions of other galaxies out there. Earth is not the center of the universe, Earth just happens to be a planet that happens to have the proper ingredients conducive to life. I’d be willing to bet every dime that I ever make on the fact that there is another planet out there that is swarming with life, maybe even intelligent life. I guess the universe doesn’t revolve around us.