Exogasm

I woke up one day wondering what kind of "gasm" I would describe for that ecstatic feeling about exoplanets. I toyed around with "exogasm". And I liked the fun suggestions from the twitters. But never did I realize that on that same day (December 1) my mind would be blown by a kind of cerebral experience brought about by the prospect of new worlds. Lots of them!

Several "foreplay" news items came into view through my twitter stream. First was that news of the first time a super-earth's atmosphere was ever examined.

But nothing would prepare me for a gasm that is truly mind-blowing: The number of stars in universe were more numerous than previously thought--so much more that the total number of stars in the universe is likely three times bigger than realized!

The tidbits below says it all in one word: Exogasm!

"There are about 20 times more red dwarfs in elliptical galaxies than in the Milky Way. In addition to boosting the total number of stars in the universe, the discovery also increases the number of planets orbiting those stars, which in turn elevates the number of planets that might harbor life."

"There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars."

Links:
Latest Star Census Increases Number of Exoplanets
Atmosphere Around Super-earth analysed for the first time

Exoplanetary Plants

Photo Credit: Alien Plant by Conradh on Flickr.

We have often set our imaginations on discovering animal-like creatures on other worlds. Yet the first forms of life that we might likely find are alien plants. It makes sense. Plants definitely have to come first as food for more advanced creatures. They are after all, at the base of the food chain. So they must be pretty abundant.
Astrobiologists are now investigating the possible forms and properties of exoplanetary plants based on the myriad of combinations of exoplanets and their parent star's properties. In fact, it's the parent star that may have the most effect on the look-and-feel of flora on other worlds, because plants depend mostly on light, which depend on what type of star their 'Sun' is.
For example, a Red Dwarf would be so feeble that the plant life would have to be dark to absorb as much light as possible. They may also have to grow large leaves to cover as much area for collecting more light. On the other hand, a hotter-than-usual exoplanet close to it's parent star might have vegetation that is light-colored to reflect most of the light. It might even be transparent to avoid getting fried. These and all other 'alien plant' characteristics are fun to imagine by exploring the different configurations of exoplanetary systems.


Other Links:
The Color of Plants on Other Worlds