AUFORA NEWS UPDATE

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 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

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In this Edition:

   * Amino Acids May Exist in Space.

   * Closest Planetary System Discovered

   * Solar System to Enter Interstellar Cloud

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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

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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."

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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.

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AUFORA News Update Issue 06.12.96

News, Information, Facts from the world of UFOlogy

To subscribe send e-mail to: watanabe@acs.ucalgary.ca

AUFORA Web: http://ume.med.ucalgary.ca/aufora/

AUFORA News: http://ume.med.ucalgary.ca/aufora/news/news.html

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Contents Copyright (c) 1996 The Alberta UFO Research Association

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