At the time, our civilization thought it was a momentous occasion. We knew there were other worlds in the galaxy. We have been discovering them since 1988.
But this, was a real breakthrough in astronomy.
Of course, nobody imagined a planet could survive, in the sense of staying intact, around such a destructive celestial object.
A pulsar is actually a rapidly rotating neutron star. And these stars emit regular pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation, at a rate of up to one thousand pulses per second. We now set our atomic clocks to them when we are away from the planet Earth.
Scientists back then, thought nothing could survive the bombardment of this kind of intense radiation. But, there they were. Two rocky worlds, orbiting a neutron star. Bathing in radiation and cooking like meatballs in your kitchen's microwave.
Then, for the next sixty-five years, the race was on to find life on another planet.
Which human beings still thought like neanderthals, as far as their imagination goes.
If the discovery of the first two planets orbiting a neutron star taught us anything, is that what we think we know, is actually that, we know nothing.
Scientist were looking for planets around yellow stars, before realizing there were more red stars in the galaxy. When a pulsar showed us that planets can orbit almost any celestial body, scientists finally opened their collective eyes, and started searching around any object that glowed in the dark skies.
They found out, in the pursuing decades, that almost every kind of star has planets. From gas giants, to rocky worlds, to ice planets made up of different kinds of frozen gases.
We now call those frozen worlds oases. Gas stations to fuel our space craft, as we try to traverse the galaxy.
Once we got out, into deep space, farther than our own solar system, we found that planets were full of life. And not just in the "Goldilocks Zone."
The Sagan telescope, on a fixed orbit around Pluto, was the first to find life. On an icy world, orbiting Alpha Centauri A, scientist thought that the constant evolution of its changing surface was due to either ice volcanoes or an ocean of water below the crust. As it turns out, the best way to describe its life, would be, like comparing a house infested by termites. Always boring and eating their way from one end of the planet to the other.
After that, scientist once again opened their eyes to the possibility, that when they make assumptions, like thinking that the Universe acts as we know how life started here on Earth, that they are dotting old fools with no imagination.
It was first discovered, that almost all type of Stars, have planets. Now it has been discovered that almost every solar system has some type of life. The next big quest is to find intelligent life out their in the Universe.
Yet, I still have my doubts that we will be able to recognize it right away. Unless, of course, intelligent life pops its beautiful head up to us and says hello.
This is,
Transcending Into One Of My Future Lives,
Jim Hauenstein,
And,
“I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here.”
- Arthur C. Clarke -
That is my story and I am sticking to it!
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