For many, the most likely place in the Solar System to search for life
beyond the Earth is Mars. This lecture describes the properties of
Mars, a desert world with a thin, dry, cold carbon dioxide atmosphere.
I will review evidence that has begun to point unequivocally to the
conclusion that Mars had flowing and standing liquid water on its
surface in the p ... Show More
Nov 2009
Lecture 27: Is There Life on Mars?
Is there life on Mars? We begin with a brief historical survey of the idea of inhabitable Mars, from Herschel to Lowell, and look at how the idea of Mars and Martians is deeply embedded in the popular culture. We then turn to spacecraft explorations of Mars, and how they have cha ... Show More
47m 4s
Nov 2009
Lecture 28: The Galilean Moons of Jupiter
The four large Galilean Moons of Jupiter seem unlikely places to look for life; at first glance they should be cold, dead, icy worlds. Instead we find tremendous geological diversity, and two big surprises: volcanically-active Io, and icy Europa. Io is the most volcanically activ ... Show More
44m 57s
Nov 2009
Lecture 29: The Children of Saturn
Among the 61 known moons of Saturn, two stand out: Enceladus and Titan. Giant Titan is the only moon in our Solar System with a substantial atmosphere, composed of nitrogen and methane, dense enough to maintain a weather cycle with methane analogous to the water cycle on Earth, e ... Show More
46m 10s
<p>La durée de vie d'une étoile peut nous renseigner sur sa composition et sur l'existence éventuelle de la vie dans le cosmos. mais, en dehors du Soleil, il est assez difficile de déterminer l'âge d'une étoile.</p><br><p>L'importance de la masse</p><br><p>En évaluant, grâce à la ... Show More
