AUFORA NEWS UPDATE
===========================================================================
BBS: Close Encounters/UFO
Date: 06-19-96
(05:46) Number: 4623
From: AUFORA NEWS
UPDATE Refer#: 772
To: ALL Recvd: NO
Subj: AUFORA
Update 06.12.96 Conf: (50)
PARAabduct
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From:
praetor@spots.ab.ca (AUFORA News Update)
Date: Wed, 12 Jun
1996 14:11:43 -0600
Organization:
AUFORA
Message-ID:
<praetor-1206961411430001@pm127.spots.ab.ca>
Newsgroups:
alt.paranet.abduct
AUFORA News
Update
Wednesday, June
12th, 1996
__________________________
In this Edition:
* Amino Acids May Exist in Space.
* Closest Planetary System Discovered
*
Solar System to Enter Interstellar Cloud
______________________________
AMINO ACIDS MAY
EXIST IN SPACE
Astronomers announced at a meeting of the
American Astronomical Society
that they have
evidence may prove that amino acids can exist in space.
Using radiotelescopes, astronomers at the
University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana
detected traces of acetic acid in space in the
Sagittarius B2
cloud. Acetic acid, which gives vinegar
its taste and
odour, can form
simple amino acids when combined with ammonia, which is
already known to
exist in interstellar space. Amino acids
are essentially
the building
blocks of life.
"With the discovery of acetic acid, it
is very plausible that simple
amino acids do
exist in space," said Dr. Lewis E. Snyder, director of the
university's
Laboratory of Astronomical Imaging.
Even more complex molecules have been found
before in interstellar
space. Many researches speculate that important
biological molecules
could form in
space.
Other researchers go as far as to say that
such biological molecules
could have seeded
Earth with life. This theory is known as
panspermia.
"In 100 years, it may be appreciated
that we are looking at part of the
answer here in
astrochemistry, and that molecules arriving from space on
comets and
asteroids perhaps were important catalysts for starting life in
the solar
system," commented Snyder.
Related Information:
http://ume.med.ucalgary.ca/aufora/news/updates/041496.html
___________________________________
CLOSEST PLANETARY
SYSTEM DISCOVERED
Astronomers have discovered another
planetary system. This one is
located around
the star Lalande 21185.
However, this discovery is particularly
intriguing, as Lalande is the
4th closest star
to us, located only 8.1 light-years away from our sun.
The four other planetary systems are located
between 35 and 50
light-years away
from us.
Lalande itself is a red dwarf star. One planet orbiting Lalande is
larger than
Jupiter and is orbiting at approximately Saturn's distance (a
30-year
orbit). The other planet is a much
smaller body with a 5.8-year
orbit. It is located at approximately the distance
from the sun to the
Mars-Jupiter
asteroid belt.
However, it is unlikely that either planet
will be hospitable to life.
However, the astronomer who reported this,
Dr. George Gatewood, has
come under fire
because there are some doubts regarding his results, and
they are yet to
be confirmed by other astronomers.
In any case, it is clear that we quickly
determining the likelihood of
a planetary
system being developed. Such data would
be useful for things
such as the Drake
Equation - the greater number of planetary systems, the
higher the
probability that more planets will be hospitable to life.
Current instruments used to find planetary
systems are only able to
find planets the
size of Jupiter, which skews results.
New detectors are
being built by
NASA to detect smaller planets.
"It's too soon to tell how common planetary
systems are," said Dr.
David Black.
"We need to survey at least 1,000 stars, which will be done
in the next
decade. Then we would get a statistical basis for estimating
the occurrences
of planetary systems."
________________________________________
SOLAR SYSTEM TO
ENTER INTERSTELLAR CLOUD
For the last 5 million years, our solar
system has been passing through
a region of space
which is relatively empty. However, we
are now
expected to pass
through an interstellar cloud in 50 000 years.
The cloud is expected to be a million times
as dense as the space in
the solar system
now.
"There will be an encounter," said
Jeffrey Linsky. "We don't know when
or exactly how
the Earth will be affected."
Such as cloud would affect the solar wind,
and perhaps compress the
heliosphere.
Additionally, weather on Earth may be
affected. Earth's magnetic field
may be altered,
and our atmospheric chemistry changed.
Some researchers have suggested that
previous ice ages have been caused
by our movement
through an interstellar cloud.
Priscilla Frisch notes that interstellar
clouds may have an impact on
the existence of
life. Passage through interstellar
clouds would create
unstable
conditions on planets, and may prevent the formation of fragile
life.
"Without stability in the local stellar
environment, I doubt there
could be stable
planetary climates hospitable to life," she said.
____________________
AUFORA News
Update Issue 06.12.96
News,
Information, Facts from the world of UFOlogy
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e-mail to: watanabe@acs.ucalgary.ca
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http://ume.med.ucalgary.ca/aufora/
AUFORA News:
http://ume.med.ucalgary.ca/aufora/news/news.html
____________________
Contents
Copyright (c) 1996 The Alberta UFO Research Association
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