Theme: Search for Life
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Text, Viewspace. The show will continue in 15 seconds. Coming up: Join the search for life beyond Earth.
The timer at top right counts down from 15 seconds.
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[COSMIC MUSIC]
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The text appears on a background of stars which move slowly towards and past us.
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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
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Scientists have discovered life in strange, extreme situations on earth.
Photo of Earth taken from space
A hot spring steams
In boiling hot springs
crabs at an ocean vent
In the deepest ocean
red and pink Pompeii worm attached to light blue substrate
surface of the ocean
But the common factor is water.
clown fish in front of anemone
Water is critical for more than just drinking
Sea turtle swims
Water allows biological chemistry to occur.
To the left, a bird flies; in the middle, jellyfish float; to the right, and adult and baby elephant at a watering hole
We have a lot of experience with what water-based life looks like and the clues it leaves to its existence.
That's why scientists are so interested in studying liquid water on objects other than Earth.
photograph of the Sun and Earth taken from space
Where there is water, there may be life.
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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Scientists have discovered life in strange, extreme situations on earth.
Photo of Earth taken from space
A hot spring steams
In boiling hot springs
crabs at an ocean vent
In the deepest ocean
red and pink Pompeii worm attached to light blue substrate
surface of the ocean
But the common factor is water.
clown fish in front of anemone
Water is critical for more than just drinking
Sea turtle swims
Water allows biological chemistry to occur.
To the left, a bird flies; in the middle, jellyfish float; to the right, and adult and baby elephant at a watering hole
We have a lot of experience with what water-based life looks like and the clues it leaves to its existence.
That's why scientists are so interested in studying liquid water on objects other than Earth.
photograph of the Sun and Earth taken from space
Where there is water, there may be life.
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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
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Europa from orbit. It is white with gray criss-crosses.
Europa from orbit. It is white with gray criss-crosses.
Text, Jupiter's moon Europa. We have seen signs of liquid water on other bodies in our own solar system.
Text, Some of this evidence appears on the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.
The lines crisscrossing Europa's frozen surface are fractures. They occur when tides in a subsurface ocean flex the moon's icy crust.
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[FUTURISTIC MUSIC]
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Mars against a black background.
Text, There is abundant evidence that water flowed on Mars in the distant past.
We get closer to Mars. Icy tundras with great fissures in them on the surface.
A close-up of a large fissure.
Text, But does water still flow on Mars today?
Thin streaks down a Martian slope.
Text, These dark, thin, finger-like streaks advance down some Martian slopes when temperatures rise. One interpretation is that these features are caused by seasonal running water.
But another possibility is that they are caused by flowing sand, not water. Surface of Mars.
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A black and white picture of a minotaur in the top left. A color picture of a planet and sun in the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY
Myth side
Text, Earth-size planets are rare.
Reality side
Text, Astronomers estimate that roughly one in five Sun-like stars have Earth-size planets located in the "habitable zone," where water can exist as a liquid. Whether these planets are actually habitable or inhabited, however, remains a mystery. Both Venus and Mars are in the Sun’s habitable zone, but are not currently habitable.
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at-a-GLANCE. Exploring Alien Atmospheres.
Webb telescope floating in space
Telescopes use science instruments called spectrographs to study starlight passing through a planet's atmosphere.
Spectrographs break light into colors like a prism.
Black planet follows its orbit around a red star, graph of light spectrum from violet to red
Gaps show where molecules in the atmosphere have absorbed light.
The information, known as spectra, tells us about the atmosphere’s composition.
Venus, Earth, Mars and spectrograph readings of their atmospheres
For example, the spectra of Earth, Venus, and Mars show that each planet contains carbon dioxide in its atmosphere
Key showing what colors on the spectrograph mean. Blue, water; purple, carbon dioxide; orange, ozone.
But Earth's spectrum shows water and ozone as well.
Webb’s spectrographs can look for the telltale signs of water vapor on distant planets.
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A black and white picture of a minotaur in the top left. A color picture of a planet and sun in the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY
Myth side
Text, The James Webb Space Telescope replaces the Hubble Space Telescope.
Reality side
Text, Webb and Hubble complement each other. While Hubble primarily observes the visible light of the universe, Webb observes infrared light. Hubble is expected to be operating long after Webb’s launch. Hubble and Webb can observe the same objects in space at the same time, providing a variety of information to astronomers.