James Cameron’s science-fiction film “Avatar” takes place on the moon Pandora. Though moons like Pandora that can bear life were considered fictitious, NASA’s Kepler mission, which is designed to detect planets that are like Earth, may change this. The atmospheres of planets that contain gases like carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane and water vapor can be studied over time to see if they can be truly inhabited by humans. So far, no Pandora or anything like it has been discovered, but many planets similar to Jupiter have been found. These planets cannot support life, as Jupiter is made of gas, but the moons orbiting them may be able to support life. The Kepler program looks for moons that pass by the host stars, which will lead to an eventual eclipse that can be seen and recorded by the Kepler program technology. Once the moon has been identified by the program, the scientists check to see if it has an atmosphere-if it does, it will absorb some of the star’s light, so it can be seen. Interestingly, Alpha Centauri A, the network “Avatar” takes place in, is a good network for inhabitable planets. However, red dwarf stars are better places to investigate; a potentially inhabitable place is usually closer to the host star. However, the red dwarf stars are so close that one side would receive continuous sun, while the other would have no light at all. This is called tidal locking, and this would prevent any life from forming on these planets.
This article is very relevant because one of the goals of the space program is to find habitable moons or planets which may be similar to Pandora. The new movie “Avatar” brings this idea of life outside of Earth to the forefront. We may be able to use these planets to find alien life, if they are already inhabited. The article’s subject matter was interesting, entertaining, and timely. I also like the idea that the planets from the science fiction movies we watch could be real. We will continue to watch for Smithsonian astronomer and project participant Kaltenegger’s research on alien moons orbiting gas giant planets as potential places where alien life can occur. This data may no longer be referred to as science fiction but just science.
I thought Andrew did an amazing job of summarizing a very interesting article into a brief report without losing any of its appeal. One thing I loved about Andrew's summary was how he related it to our current life. "Avatar" is currently the number one movie in box offices and I am sure many students in this class have seen it. I also thought it was great that despite the confusing material taught by the article Andrew was able to convey his summary to the class in a manner easily understood. Another great thing he did was focus on detail, I really thought he did a great job of including how it is possible for a planet to be like this and where the possibilities are. The fact that he elaborated on his point was great. One thing I did not think he did well was explaining Tidal-blocking. The manner in which he explained it was in my opinion the only confusing part of the summary. Another thing I thought was not done well was transitioning between paragraphs. There was no tying the statements together, it was just a simple statement followed by another irrelevant statement. All in all I thought Andrew did a great job. I loved the detail and his explanation of its relation to the movie "Avatar." Now when I finally get to seeing the movie I will be able to understand how it is possible a planet such as Pandora could exist.
ReplyDeleteFrom Andrew’s article review I was taught about some new and intriguing facts about the planets in space. Andrew did a great job at using supporting details to back up his main points in his summary. His main point was not that a planet like Pandora have been discovered but it was to educate students about what scientists are trying to accomplish. Andrew also did nice work at teaching the reader something new. He didn’t just pull any old article out of a newspaper, which shows the reader that Andrew took time and effort at selecting his article. There was a perfect amount of new information that balanced some old information that I already knew. As a reader it is nice to be familiar with what is being discussed, not being totally confused by all of this information thrown at you. Andrew also did a fine job at keeping his review to a short paragraph that was packed with valuable information. He didn’t ramble on and on repeating himself often. On the other hand, he didn’t quite explain how scientists expect to uncover planets like Pandora. Also, to improve his review Andrew could have added a few more discussion points about what we could expect in the near or distant future. This would give the reader a nice view of the sequence of events currently happening. I was completely impressed at how Andrew could achieve all this though his work while just beginning this writing by talking about the planet in the recently released movie, Avatar. Good job Andrew!
ReplyDelete~Alex Adrian
12/23 Article Review
ReplyDeleteChris Marasco
The article review of “Avatar’s Moon Pandora Could be Real, Planet -Hunters Say” was interesting and well presented. I had recently seen the movie “Avator” and enjoyed learning factual information about planets. Three well presented aspects of the article, were NASA’s involvement in planet study, the possibilities of future discoveries and how the moon’s orbit might help support life.
Two aspects that might have improve the review would be to shorten it and make it a little less complicated with less specifics mentioned. The article seemed a bit too long and somewhat difficult to follow at certain points.
Overall I really did enjoy the article and learned a lot about the moon and planets. It was of special interest to me because I had just seen the movie which sparked an interest in the study of planets and the possibility of alien life. The article also pointed out another of the many ways that science can affect our lives.
From this article I learned many interesting things such as the fact that life doesnt have to exist on a planet it can also exist on a moon. This wa sinteresting to me because this makes the probabaility of life existing outside of earth. I thought that this was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHe could have used other examples of where scientists are looking for life.
He did a good job explaining his subject and describing what they were looking for.
I thought this article was very interesting because we often forget about the possibility of alien life. Even though it is thoroughly studied, it is still forgotten. The movie Avatar has brought the idea of alien life back. And the fact that the moon that this movie takes place on is a possible place for life to live is astounding. We have to realize that the conditions for life to exist on a planet must be precise to the nearest hairs width. That is why we are so fortunate to live on the earth. I liked this article because it addressed some factors that are needed in order for a planet to sustain life. And it also stressed the precision that is needed in the climate of a planet for it to sustain life forms. I did not like the fact that this article did not talk about Avatar as much.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very wise of Andrew to choose a subject that is interesting, but draw the reader in by connecting it too an event more familiar to the average high school than space tracking, movies. The detail of which he described NASA's efforts was also phenomenal; I enjoyed learning the specific way that moon were identified, because before I just thought they sent out probes that landed on pieces of rock. I was not aware of this beforehand and it impressed me that I actually improved my knowledge from reading this blog, as most of the stuff on here I know about already. I also think it was good of Andrew to not just discuss the positive, but also the negative, where we can't find life and the conditions that prohibit it. To improve his article I would have liked more information on the mechanics that go into figuring out what a moon's atmosphere is, as this area is overlooked somewhat. I also think he should have indented his paragraphs and used more commas. Well, just being picky here, but can't help it. Are there possibly synonyms or other phrases that could be substituted for habitable and inhabitable, because those words got tiresome and repetitive after the first five sentences.
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