August newsletter 2013

statements about the meteorite were called into question and some suggested that the molecules found could have formed by some other nonbiological processes on Mars.

There is still split views on that meteorite, even today!

There’s also some results from the Curiosity rover which suggests that Mars was once quite watery and able to support life in its past. However, as you probably know, life doesn’t need to be in an Earth-like environment to One of Gemma’s articles in issue 12 of All About Space survive. Some organisms could be living under Mars’ icecap or even deeply under the soil. If it exists, we just haven’t found it yet and it’s way too soon to stop looking.

If we were to find something, there’s been some disagreement on how we should handle it. Some believe we can bring it back to Earth for testing while others think that alien microbes could contaminate Earth and spell disaster for us! I think to keep everyone happy, we’d have to leave the rovers to carry out any tests - to avoid us humans from landing on Mars and contaminating its soil or Martian microbes from “polluting” ours. Of course, there’s also the fact that the rovers cannot do everything and, anything a rover can do, humans can do faster. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if the time comes.

We should also be aware that there’s also a chance that any microbes that we do find could have come from Earth originally anyway by riding on meteorites - we’d be related then - and wouldn’t have found any alien life at all!

Personally, I think it’s in our best interests to study any life we find on other planets but we shouldn’t be careless about it. Mars is like a stepping stone when it comes to exploring other planets beyond it.

Andy: Is there any one person, or indeed persons, that you look up to and aspire to be like and for what reasons?

Gemma: Not really any particular person but to those scientists that can balance their research and who enjoy and can find the time to educate the general public. It really takes some type of person to flit between heavy, hardcore mathematical problems or scientific concepts to still being able to relay their work into a language for everyone to understand. That applies to lecturers at universities too - I was very lucky to have some great educators on my astrophysics course.

Andy: So what does the future hold for you, where and what do you see yourself doing say in ten years from now?

Gemma: I hope to become a professional astronomer and hunt for exoplanets around white dwarfs.

Because white dwarfs are the end stage of stars like our Sun, we might be able to get some idea of what will happen to our Solar System as our Sun evolves. Can planets survive the red giant stage before it puffs off its envelope to become a white dwarf? Can white dwarfs support life themselves? The questions are not only endless, but also incredibly interesting and could provide us with some pretty cool answers if we ever find a planet around one of these “dead” stars.

Andy: Finally if you were asked by a young inspired person would wants to pursue a career in astronomy in its 7 Credit NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)