Life Elsewhere In The Universe?

We comfortably delude ourselves when we think life, as we know it, is present only on Earth. Any reasonably educated, well-adjusted, adult living today knows that:

• Our planet is but one of eight orbiting our sun
• Scientists say our sun was born five billion years ago
• Our sun is but one of 100 billion suns in our galaxy—the Milky Way

Many of these other suns have planets orbiting them. Think about what I just said:  one hundred billion (100,000,000,000) suns, some with multiple planets orbiting them as Earth does around our sun.

Now consider the scientific fact that all these suns and planets are in just our galaxy. Scientists tell us there are billions of other galaxies. But we don’t have to take their word for it; we can observe some of them through giant telescopes in planetariums located in many countries around the world. Visit one and see for yourself.

All galaxies form in the same way. They all are a collection of various sized stars that form when hydrogen and helium molecules fuse, releasing enormous amounts of heat and light that make them “shine.” Each one’s center of mass undergoes a tug of war with the gravitational pull of other stars until each one’s pull on the others reaches a temporary “stalemate” that can continue for billions of years. “Stalemates” between billions of stars determine the positioning of stars within galaxies and of galaxies in the universe-until the gravitational pull of one captures another and all hell breaks loose!

Small and medium sized stars, like Earth, live for billions of years until all of its hydrogen is depleted and then either incinerates or just becomes another dark body in the universe. However, very large stars only “shine” for about a million years and burst violently, spewing out all its chemical elements in all directions. In time, the elements cool and become captured by the gravitational pull of another star. Over a very long time, the debris coalesces into one or more, like our solar system, spheres and become planets if its mass is large enough. This is the way Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago.

Is it plausible that only one relatively small planet revolving around one medium-sized star in a single galaxy in our enormous universe is the only one with the necessary resources and suitable environment to allow life to form and evolve? Again, in my opinion it is not, but—as I assert in my essay, Opinions—everyone is entitled to his or her own.

Read my book, Settled Science, and my essays to learn how scientists believe our universe formed, how life began, and how we got here.