Life in Our Solar System

Q. Pick TWO places in our solar system and tell me why you are hopeful there may be life there. Why?

According to Patel (2021), although there is little likelihood of finding little green people in a corner of our solar system, there are a few candidates for astral bodies where it might be possible to find microbial life, such as bacteria. The first likely candidate is one of Neptune’s moons, Triton. Although its surface is icy, mainly consisting of water nitrogen, and seemingly impossibly cold, there is some warmth generated by the gravitational pull between the planet and moon that could, at least theoretically warm its surface (Patel, 2021). A second candidate is Ceres, the smallest dwarf planet (Patel, 2021). This seems promising because there is the potential of actual water being present within the planet. Even if life is not found on the planet’s surface, it is possible that life may be lying within (Patel, 2021). In short, where is the potential for warmth and water, there is the potential for at least some primitive life forms.

Q2. Do you think there could be intelligent life in our solar system (just our solar system, we will address the galaxy at large on the final)?

According to NASA, more sophisticated technology has enabled excavation of life outside of the immediate planet in a way previously not possible. This includes the hydrothermal vents of the moons of Saturn and looking beneath the surface of Mars’s icy surface. Exploring planets like Venus and Mars may also give hints of previously existing life before the planets became uninhabitable. However, intelligent sentient life that is similar to human intelligence seems unlikely to be found. It is possible that bacteria or primitive unicelled beings may be discovered, but these organisms do not have the type of decision-making or instinctive capabilities of truly intelligent life. For that, humans will have to likely look outside of the solar system, and even then, the beings which are found may not conform to our definition of intelligence.