Saint Marys University.

Key Study words and brief notes for Astronomy 1001.2 all sections.

Key words for each chapter are mine and are bold faced.
The notes are currently incomplete. they are a work in progress.
It is everyones opinion that they are much better then nothing!
I agree. I hope they help your studying.! ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! --Doug Pitcairn, Instructor.

Chapter 16 Evolution of Low Mass Stars

Brown Dwarfs
Main Sequence lifetimes.
! Low mass stars
! Sun Like stars.
! ! Main sequence stability
! ! He in Core accumulation
! ! Giant Branch core degeneracy.
! ! Triple Alpha reaction / helium flash
! Horizontal Branch Star
! ! C & O fusion
! ! Giant again, but with deep convection.
! Planetary nebulae.
!
White Dwarfs
! ! Hard to observe
! ! strange characteristics
! ! ! structure
! ! ! density
! ! ! life spans
! ! WD Binaries
! ! ! Chandreasharkar Limit
! ! ! Novas
! ! ! Type 1 supernovas

Brown Dwarfs-
A failed star that is not massive enough to cause hydrogen fusion in its core. Essentially, a dense
hot planet. An object whos mass is <.08 solar masses, (the least massive stars) but greater than 2 Jupiters.

Main Sequence life times-

 The amount of time a star stays within the main sequence of the HR diagram, fusing hydrogen into
helium within its core. There is a huge range, small M class stars live for trillions of years, while sun
like stars live for billions. Massive stars at the upper left of the HR diagram, only live for a few million
years. The stars lifetime can be inferred by comparing the stars mass to the stars luminosity. For example,
small red main sequence stars have 1/10,000th the sun luminosity. This means they are consuming their
supply of hydrogen at this rate. But they start with 1/10 of the sun's mass. Therefore they will live for
1000 times as long, perhaps as much as 10,000,000,0000,000 years!

Main sequence stability-

A star is on the main sequence when the inward pressure generated by gravitational compression is
equal to the outward force generated by Hydrogen fusion. This balancing act is very stable (it exhibits
positive stability). As long as the star has hydrogen in its core to fuse, it will remain on the main sequence,
at its designated spot as set by its mass.

End of Main Sequence.

He in Core accumulation- Over its lifetime, as the star cranks out Helium, this heavier gas sinks to
the core and starts to accumulate. As it gets heavier, it gets hotter and denser. The end of a normal stars
main sequence lifetime occurs when the core is pretty much all helium.

Red Giant Branch core degeneracy

But this helium compresses itself until it enters a state of electron degeneracy. The cores physical
characteristics change. It no longer behaves as a gas, but more like a giant crystalline solid. It is now a
superconductor of heat, so the whole core sits at the same temperature, (it becomes isotropic,). As it
can no longer resort to expansion to help cool itself, so the temperature climbs rapidly. The stars
luminosity climbs as a result of massive hydrogen fusion in the near core envelope. The outer surface of
the star swells up and cools, as the star moves up and to the right into the Giant Branch of the HR
diagram.

Triple Alpha reaction / helium flash-

At 100 Million K, a new fusion source ignites, called the Triple-alpha Process. The massive
outpouring of heat causes the whole core to react very quickly, and the resulting flood of energy changes
the structure of the star profoundly. The core stops being degenerate, and the inner regions of the star
become more transparent. The star heads down but to the right and becomes a helium burning horizontal
branch star. (yellow giant).

Triple Alpha Process. This is the fusion of three 4 He nuclei into one 12C (carbon) nucleus:
An additional collision will turn the carbon into Oxygen. forms Oxygen from Carbon & Helium:

Horizontal Branch Star-

A star that has grown past the red giant stage and is now burning helium in its core, spectra type B3-A0,
very blue, strong hydrogen lines.

C & O fusion-

Although the star is once again stable, the Triple-alpha Process is very inefficient at producing energy, so
it can only last for about 100 Myr. While it goes on, the star steadily builds up a C-O core, just as before
when it was a helium core during the stars main sequence life span.
C-O core collapses and heats up
He burning shell outside the C-O core
H burning shell outside the He burning shell

Planetary Nebulae-
A
The re-stabilizecd giant star cannot last long, the Carbon and Oxygen rapidly accumulates in the
core, and we have a repeat of what happened with the helium. As the star accumulates Carbon and
Oxygen, it again climbs up to the right, but at a higher effective Temperature than the original Giant
Branch, so it ascends with a bluer color, putting it slightly to the left of the original Giant Branch on the H-
R Diagram. However, this time, there is a big difference; Deep convection in the stars inner regions is
bringing up carbon from the core region and polluting the outer envelope of the star. This does two
things:

1) It prevents the carbon from piling down into the core, compressing and heating it up so higher order
fusion reactions are unable to start up.

2) The carbon in the outer envelope acts like a blanket, and heats the stars outer regions allowing them to
escape from the bloated stars weakened surface gravity. The star boils over into space.

Core-Envelope Separation
Rapid Process: takes ~105 years
Outer envelope gets slowly ejected (fast wind)
C-O core continues to contract:
With the weight of envelope taken off, the core heats up less
It never reaches the Carbon fusion ignition temperature of 600 Million K

Core and Envelope separate physically.

The expanding envelope forms a planetary nebula around the contracting C-O core. This expanding
glowing shell of ionized gas is illuminated by UV radiation from the fiercely hot core in its midst, and
thus glows brightly as it dissipates. The remaining core settles down into being a white dwarf star.

Ionized and heated by the hot central core.

Expands away to nothing in ~104 years.

The hot C-O core is exposed, and moves quickly to the left on the H-R Diagram at nearly constant
luminosity and increasing temperature.

Two Planetaries, The Helix and Abell 38

White Dwarfs -

The end stage of small to mid size stellar evolution. Extremely small (earth sized), extremely hot
(>100,000 Kelvin) and extremely dense. (1-ton per cubic centimeter).

Hard to observe -
White dwarfs are hard to observe because they have such low luminosity. Although they are hot, and
thus have great illuminance per unit of surface area, they are so tiny that their luminosity is very low
(typically less than 1/1000th of the sun).
They are only visible when close or a member of a binary pair.
Strange characteristics
1. Firstly, they are very small but the more massive white dwarfs are actually smaller than less massive
ones. With their fuel used up no fusion takes place so there is no outward radiation pressure to withstand
gravitational collapse. More massive stellar cores experience stronger gravitational force so actually
compress more.
2. Surface temperature starts really high but rapidly falls towards 10,000 K, the core temperature may be
as high as 100 million K. The heat trapped within a white dwarf will gradually be radiated away by it but
with its small radius, a white dwarf has only a small surface area. Heat therefore cannot escape quickly.

Density-
A white dwarf, with a mass roughly that of the Sun packed into a volume not much greater than the Earth
must have an extremely high density. At 109 kg m-3 its density is one million times greater than that of
water. This matter is stable because of electron degeneracy. The electrons in this matter are packed
together into the smallest volume they can exist. The weak nuclear force holds the atoms into a "quasi-
crystaline" state.

Life spans-
It will take tens to hundreds of billions of years for a white dwarf to radiate away its heat and cool down
to a black, inert clump of carbon and degenerate electrons. As the Universe is not yet old enough for this
to have happened, all the white dwarfs that have ever formed in single-star systems are still white
dwarfs.

White Dwarf Binaries-

1. If the white dwarf is a member of a close binary system, some dramatic events can happen when the
other star begins to evolve into a red giant. As the dwarfs companion swells, it exceeds the pair roche
lobe and matter (Hydrogen) pours down onto the surface of the white dwarf. This is referred to a a case
of Mass Transfer.
2. The temperature in the degenerate hydrogen skin climbs
3. Until the hydrogen burns explosively in a nova.
4. Leaving the white dwarf and companion to possibly to possibly repeat the show. Such a binary pair is
called a regular Nova.

Type 1a SuperNova, a much bigger bang!

Same setup as the nova, but this time the white dwarf is a rare heavy one, of say 1.3 solar masses

1. This time the white dwarfs mass exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit before the Nova happens. The star
begins to collapse inwards, driving the density and temperature violently upwards.
2. All of the stars mass of carbon and helium fuses at once, in a very intense explosion called a type 1
supernova.
3. There is nothing left except a rapidly expanding cloud of superheated gas.

Chandrasekhar Limit-
The upper limit on the mass supported by electron degeneracy pressure; approx. 1.4 solar masses.
Summary of Stages of Evolution of a Low-Mass star:
Main Sequence star - Lasts as long as core has hydrogen to burn.
Red Giant star - Core is degenerate, lasts until core ignites (helium flash)
Horizontal Branch star - Star is burning in two layers, H to He and He to C & O.
Planetary Nebula phase - No deep convection, so star boils off its outer layers, forming an expanding
gas envelope around itself. the so called planetary nebulae
White Dwarf star - The remaining degenerate core of the star, hot, dense and small.

Chapter 17/18 Live fast, die young, stars of high mass.

!
! CNO Cycle.
! Above 7 solar masses, no core convection.
! Cepheid variables
Supernovae Type II
! SNRs
! Matter cycling
High Mass Leftovers.
! Neutron stars
! Black Holes
! Relativity overview
Binary Stars (mass exchange ->HR distortion)

Star Clusters
! Open Clusters
! Globulars
Cluster Evolution. / HR tracks & dating
Above 7 solar masses, the deep core convection during the Helium burning phase(AGB) which assists
the star in boiling over, losing mass and becoming a white dwarf no longer happens. Without
core convection, the star has no way of shedding mass, and is eventually doomed to end in a more
violent super nova explosion.

Cepheid Variables are yellow supergiant stars which undergo a period of pulsation in temperature,
radius and luminosity. They have a layer of helium underneath their surfaces which ionizes, becoming
somewhat opaque. This acts as a blanket holding in the heat, causing the stars to swell and cool. At
some point, the helium cools and deionizes, and the star shrinks back down, heating up and the cycle
repeats. These stars show a very characteristic light curve:
(Remember, a light curve is a plot of an objects visual magnitude as it varies over time.)

Cepheids usefulness comes from the observed fact that their period of oscillation varies with their
luminosity. If you observe a Cepheid variable, all you have to do is time it and you know how
luminous it is, and from that, how far away it is. Cepheids are thus a very important standard
candle. (Even though they are all different, and are certainly not candles!)
 Super Nova Type II

The death of stars greater than 7 solar masses is swift and dramatic. Unlike lighter stars , where
deep convective currents mix the carbon being produced in the cores with the stars outer layers, the
heavier stars cores remain radiative , and any heavier elements produced in the core simply settle down
and start a new core, hotter and denser then the previous.
The star passes thru a whole serious of ever hotter thermonuclear reactions. Below is a cross section
of the core of a red supergiant star. (NOTE: the elements being produced are the main ones that make up
the metals talked about in chapter one, the so called tier two elements.)
 At this point , the core of the star somewhat resembles an onion, with each layer undergoing
reactions and the heavier elements produced dropping down to the hotter layer below. This allows the
star to remain stable longer, but at a heavy price. each successive reaction produces less energy, and also
each successive reaction produces more neutrinos. The neutrinos stream out of the star and carry away
energy that is then not available to hold the star up. Its like trying to inflate a balloon with an ever bigger
hole ripping in the side as your pumping.
The end comes when the iron starts forming... iron is the most tightly bound nucleus.

What Happens after a Significant Iron Core Develops?

The Iron core is supported by e- degeneracy but very quickly the Chandrasekhar Limit is exceeded.
1.) The iron core collapses and within about 0.1 seconds the temperature in the core reaches 5 billion
kelvin!
2.) At these temperatures, black body radiation is all super high energy gamma rays and these
photons are energetic enough to break apart the Fe nuclei in a process called "photo-disintegration" The
Fe atoms are rapidly blasted apart into neutrons, protons and electrons and this cools the core leading to
further collapse (moving the wrong way down the binding energy curve).
3.) After another 0.1 second goes by another strange phenomenon occurs called neutronization. The
density is so high that the electrons combine with protons to form neutrons. This process releases a flood
of neutrinos. Insane quantities of neutrinos pour out of the core as it collapse inwards. This further cools
the core.
4) The outer layers of the giant bloated star are no longer supported by thermal pressure, and the
whole mass of the star begins falling inward.
5. Once the core hits nuclear density, it becomes much stiffer than any brick wall. As the core
collapsed, the outer layers of the star are also collapsing at up to 15% of the speed of light. The inner
collapsing layers crash against the neutron core, BOUNCE back outward and set up a shock wave that, in
combination with the neutrino flux blows the layers above the core into space at up to 20,000 km/sec (50
million miles/hour!). The star explodes in a fantastic bomburst of uncountable megatons!
The core has collapsed to about 60 miles in radius with a mass between 1.4 and 3 Mass Sun.
 It is during this explosive phase that all sorts of neutron capture fusion reactions go on that build
heavy elements far past Iron in the Period Table. so called tier three elements.
These elements, exploding outwards into space, are the reason supernovae help to enrich
interstellar material with metals.

High Mass leftovers!

If the core of the former star that remains has a mass of between 1.5 and three masses, it is probably
in the form of a neutron star. If the cores mass is greater than 5 solar masses, it will be in the form of a
black hole. In between 3 and 5, the result is harder to predict. It can vary with spin and the strength of
the magnetic field.

Neutron Stars:

As the core compresses inwards in the final hours before a supernova type II. The pressure smashes
the degenerate electron structure (gravity exceeds the weak nuclear force...), crushing the electrons into
the proton of the nuclei to create neutrons. The result is a sphere of between 1.4 and 5 solar masses of
essentially pure neutrons. This bizarre object has some remarkable properties. It is essentially a giant
atomic nucleus about the size of a typical city. In the diagram below, you see some numbers for density
and size, as well as a diagram that helps explain why these tiny but powerful stellar remnants often flash
very brightly in radio or optical energy. As they spin, they pulse like a lighthouse appears to flash.
 Black Holes:

If the mass of the core exceeds 5 solar masses, then the end result will be quite different. The force
of gravity exceeds the last refuge of structure, the neutron degeneracy which is supported by the strong
nuclear force. The neutron star collapses inwards as the neutrons are crushed into each other. The whole
core collapse into a point of infinite density...
Black holes are essentially mathematical singularities, powerful gravitational fields with nothing
else visible. They are capable of consuming anything in the universe. They cannot even emit any
radiation as their escape velocity exceeds that of light, thus the name black hole.
How do we see these strange objects? Not visible directly, we can however confirm their existence
is the following three criteria are met:

1) We observe a single line spectroscopic binary (review chap 13)

2) The unseen partner has a mass greater than 5 solar masses.
3) The system is emitting X-rays.

Binary Stars / Mass Exchange

When two stars are close together, they share a common gravitational field. This field is called a Roche
Lobe, named after Eduord Roche, a French Astronomer. There is a point between the two stars where
material can literally go either way. It can, and often does end up falling down onto the companion
star.
 This only makes sense, we have clearly shown that mass is the most important parameter deciding
the life history of stars, so changing mass would be expected to make a big difference. A star which
undergoes mass exchange can do quite erratic things on an HR diagram, and individual cases can be
quite complicated.

Star Clusters

Cluster Evolution. / HR tracks & dating-

Clusters are typically stars that have formed in the same place at the same time although their numbers
can vary from thousands to millions. Oldest stars tell us age of clusters. When we observe star clusters on
the HR diagram it immediately tells us the age of the cluster, younger stars are obviously brighter on the
diagram, we can also tell from observing that a young cluster is mostly blue light and an old cluster is
mostly red. Stellar population is a group of star with similar ages. Main-sequence turn off is where the
most massive stars are still on the main sequence.
- After 4 million years all stars with masses greater than 20 m have evolved off the main sequence and
spread out on the top of the HR diagram, the most massive stars have already formed into super nova.
- By 10 million years only stars less masses than 15 m remain on the main sequence, low mass stars are
evolving toward the bottom right of the HR diagram\
- By 10 billion years stars with masses of only 1 m are beginning to pull away from the main sequence

Chapter 19 Galaxies.

Overview of matter in the big picture.

! Structure
! H & He to metals in time
! Matter Flow diagram
Galaxy Tour
! Types and sizes
! Forms and Collisions vs initial conditions
 ! Structure Overall
Big Picture Voids and walls.

Matter in the big picture:

Way back in chapter 1, we mentioned that the early universe had vast amounts of energy which
essentially transformed into matter, specifically 74% hydrogen, 26% Helium and a trace of lithium and
beryllium. This primordial mix formed into stars, which, as we have seen, often fabricate heavier
elements and spew them back out into space. Thus space now is seeded with metals, as much as 10% or
higher in certain regions, although the overall average is probably around 1%.
This metal enriched material, in the form of clouds of interstellar gas, is the raw material from
which stars form. The metal content is important for life, as it is the metals that allow stars to form
planets, and thus create possible harbours for life to exist.
But not all stellar material is recycled. Much of the matter in most stars ends up in the form of
Dark Heavy Objects, or DHOs. Cold rogue planets, cooled off white dwarfs, neutron stars and black
holes all make up this lost component of matter.
So, if we run the clock forward, we see that eventually all material in the universe will be either
too dispersed to collect into stars, or end up locked away as part of a DHO. The endpoint of the cosmos,
as far as we can tell at this time, will be a vast black empty void.

Galaxies, Types and Sizes.

The main congregation of matter in the universe is in galaxies, large groupings of stars and matter
and dark matter, found throughout space as afar as we can see. They come in a variety of shapes and
sizes. Here is a quick list:

1) Elliptical galaxies, small, spherical to elongated masses of mostly older stars. Thought to be
the original forms that are now often very aged. Relatively free of gas and dust, sort of resembling giant
globular clusters.
2) Irregular galaxies, small distorted galaxies with complex shapes, usually found close to larger
galaxies. They can have mixes of stellar populations, but usually are gas and dust free. They are thought
to be former ellipticals that are currently being destroyed by tidal interaction with their larger
neighbours. Possibly in the process of being eaten!
3) Spiral Galaxies. These are the showpieces of the galaxies, their pronounced spiral structure is
probably what most people think of when the word galaxy is mentioned. They have a distinct structure,
with a flattened disk which is rich is dust and gas, and of course young stars. This is surrounded by
(embedded in) a spherical halo of older stars and globular clusters. The internal structure of spirals
indicates they have been formed by the merging of many smaller galaxies. Computer simulations reveal
the dynamic of how an incoming small galaxy can torque a larger galaxy into a spiral form.
4) Cd Galaxies. Monstrous galaxies usually found in the central regions of large clusters of smaller
galaxies. They are form less, but massive, and are thought to be the result of hundreds or thousands of
smaller galaxies all melded into a giant mass of material. An incoming galaxy would no longer generate
any discernible spiral structure as they are simply too massive.

Forms, Collisions and initial conditions.

A few short years ago, it was widely thought that the form of galaxies was largely determined by
the initial conditions under which they formed. Galaxies which formed with smaller amount of angular
momentum were more likely to form ellipticals, and galaxies with more spin energy would produce the
spirals. However, more advanced simulations in todays modern computers demonstrate quite clearly
that it is collisions between galaxies that mostly influence their forms.

Overall structure.

Galaxies are usually found in groups, called clusters. our local cluster is called the Local Group,
and consists of two large spirals and a scattering of a couple of dozen smaller types. The large spirals,
Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, and the impressive Andromeda Galaxy, totally dominate the space around
them.
The larger scale picture reveals that galaxies cluster in clusters as well. Our local group is one of
many that all congregate around the massive Virgo super cluster, 60 million light years away in the
direction of the constellation Virgo. This massive cluster has several thousands of galaxies associated
with it. Even larger scale reveals that even super clusters gather in clusters, and this fractal like
structure continues as you head out into deep space. Here is a photograph of the galaxy cluster, Abell
3700.

In the very large picture, the regions of denser galaxy populations resemble the soap in soap subs.
Galaxies are found in huge flat structures called walls, and in between re huge areas relatively empty
called voids. Voids are like the bubbles in the soap suds. In this analogy, where there is soap, there are
galaxies.

Chapter 20 The Milky Way.

RR Lyra as Standard candles (distance to clusters)

Shapely and the centre of the galaxy
Arms mapping.
Metal Content versus location.
Centre tour, the dark heart of the Milky Way.
Dark Matter
! ! Rotation Curves
! ! Cluster masses
! ! Formation difficulties
! ! Possible solutions

Harlow Shapely studied the globular clusters of the Milky Way and found that they were
concentrated in a spherical region, centered 30,000 light years away in the direction of Sagittarius. He
correctly concluded that they probably orbit the centre of the milky way, and therefore the milky ways
centre was at that location.
Chapter 19 + 22 Cosmology.

Hubble Expansion
! SN Type 1a / Globulars / Brightest Cluster members.
! Red shift
! Implications for the edge.
! The future
! The Past
! ! Forces / Energy / Matter / Dark Energy
Big Bang support
! ! 3 deg Planck glow
! ! Elemental abundance's

We study the distances to far away galaxies by looking at the very brightest standard candles , (SC=
objects which have a know luminosity to which distance can always be determined.) We use
Cepheid variables and O class stars for closer galaxies, and the much brighter Globular
clusters for more distant clusters, At great distances, we rely on type 1a supernovas, the
very best of distance signposts.

Using this data, Hubble was the first astronomer to discover that there is a relationship between how far
away a galaxy is, and how fast it is moving away from us. Now called Hubble Law, it is
best shown with the following graph.
Note: Now that this relationship is confirmed, one of the nice things you can do is very easily get a
distance estimate to any distant galaxy. Just measure its doppler shift, and go over and
down to get the distance.

The edge of the universe has unique properties which are a result of combining the Hubble expansion
with relativity. Relativistic distortion increases as you approach the distance at which the
hubble expansion results in a recessional velocity equal to the speed of light. As discussed in
class, this produces come surprising results.

The Future The fact that space is expanding against the common pull of the gravity of every object in
the universe, suggests two possibilities. Either it will slow down and come to a stop (and
presumably then start to draw altogether again, ending in a big crunch!). Or it will expand
outward forever, until the galaxies find themselves isolated in very big dark universe.
Philosophically, astronomers wish they could claim the universe will come together again,
but realistically, it appears that it will continue to expand forever. There is not nearly enough
matter in the universe to cause it to contract. Even with the addition of the still mysterious
dark matter, the universe appears doomed to continue expanding.
" View for our planet would not be affected too bad, because we mostly see local stuff that is
not taking part in the overall expansion. Distant galaxies will get less numerous however.

The Past If we run the universe backward, we discover that galaxies become closer together, and that
the average density of matter in space rapidly climbs. As the universe gets denser, it also
gets hotter (it is expanding and cooling.) It all starts with a so called big bang 13.7 billion
years ago, when the universe essentially starts from a very small region of unimaginably
high temperature and density.
" " As the universe cools, it allows various types of particles to exist, as each type of
particle comes into existence, so does the forces associated with that particle. Gradually the
universe as we see it starts to form. One of that last critical stages is when protons are
formed, many of them are hot enough to fuse into helium via the P-P chain reaction. This
fusion results in the common ratio of 75% hydrogen and 25% helium we find when we look
around the cosmos today.

Evidence for the Big Bang

So this expanding field of energy. which gradually cooled and formed the structures we
see today, has been dubbed, the "Big Bang". Now, as with all science, this is based on
evidence; so lets look at the evidence for the Big Bang theory.

1. Redshift of Galaxies
The redshift of distant galaxies means that the Universe is probably expanding. If we
then go back far enough in time, everything must have been squashed together into a tiny
dot. The rapid eruption from this tiny dot was the Big Bang.

Cosmic Microwave Background

2. Microwave Background
Very early in its history, the whole Universe was very hot. As it expanded, this heat left
behind a "glow" that fills the entire Universe. The Big Bang theory not only predicts that this
glow should exist, but that it should be visible as microwaves - part of the Electromagnetic
Spectrum. This is the Cosmic Microwave Background which has been accurately measured
by orbiting detectors, and is very good evidence that the Big Bang theory is correct.
 The Sun is a fairly new star.
3. Mixture of Elements
As the Universe expanded and cooled down, some of the elements that we see today
were created. The Big Bang theory predicts how much of each element should have been
made in the early universe, and what we see in very distant galaxies and old stars is just
right. You cannot look in new stars, like the Sun, for this evidence, because they contain
elements that were created in previous generations of stars. As such, the composition of new
stars will be very different from the composition of stars that existed 7 billion years ago,
shortly after the Big Bang.

Galaxies of long ago

4. Looking back in time.
! The main alternative to the Big Bang theory of the Universe is called the Steady State theory.
In this theory, the Universe does not change very much with time. Remember that because
light takes a long time to travel across the Universe, when we look at very distant galaxies,
we are also looking back in time. From this we can see that galaxies a long time ago were
quite different from those today, showing that the Universe has changed. This fits better with
the Big Bang theory than the Steady State theory.

Chapter 24 Life in the Universe.

! Definition of life
! Drake equation
! Rare earth Hypothesis.
! ! Primitive life more common / advanced life more rare
! Modified Drake equation.
! Implications of first contact!!
 Life is difficult to define, as even biologists are uncertain where to draw the line
between living and non-living systems. As one considers ever more primitive
forms, the activities that we might consider life-like become less common.
Ability to reproduce, ability to self organize, ability to change the environment
to favor more of itself are all found among very basic life like forms. Viruses,
prions, even complex crystals can act somewhat alive. Generally, the question
of life in the Universe suggests living beings of conscience, somewhat similar to
ourselves.

The Drake equation is a simple probability calculation that suggest how many planets
containing intelligent life might out there be in the visible universe.

It was first published by the American astronomer Frank Drake back in the fifties. He
reasoned that if you considered all the things we know are necessary for our life to exist on
the Earth, the we should be able to estimate the number of civilizations out there with
our knowledge of astronomy, biology and geology.
 !

Here the Drake equation has been modified to account for things Drake didn't
know about. Modern studies suggest that parts of the Milky Way have either too little
metals or too much metals to allow life to function easily. This means the Milky Way
effectively has a habitable zone.
We also now appreciate the role that the Moon had in stabilizing the Earths
inclination and orbit to maintain a reasonable climate on our planets surface. Sine the
moon is thought to have been a "fluke" from a collision or two proto-planets, it follows
that this provision may make intelligent life much less likely.
Finally, we know from the results of the "grand Tack" that massive planets,
especially Jupiter are quite capable of disrupting and destroying lesser worlds like the
Earth. It is likely the number and size of large gas giants is a vital consideration in
wether life will have a chance to form on a smaller nearby world.