The Search for Extraterrestrial Life: Recent Developments: Proceedings of the 112th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union Held at Boston University, Boston, Mass., U.S.A., June 18–21, 1984

552 Pages·1985·26.759 MB·English

by  Michael D. Papagiannis (auth.), Michael D. Papagiannis (eds.)

THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE:
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
INTERNA TIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
UNION ASTRONOMIQUE INTERNATIONALE
THE SEARCH FOR
EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE:
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 112TH SYMPOSIUM OF THE
INTERNA TlONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
HELD AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, BOSTON, MASS., U.S.A.,
JUNE 18-21,1984
EDITED BY
MICHAEL D. PAPAGIANNIS
Department of Astronomy, Boston University,
Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP
DORDRECHT/BOSTON/LANCASTER/TOKYO
library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
International Astronomical Union. Symposium (112th: 1984: Boston University)
The search for extraterrestrial life - recent developments.
Includes index.
1. Life on other planets-Congresses. I. Papagiannis, Michael D.,
1932- II. Title.
QB54.I57 1984 574.999 85-18282
ISBN-13: 978-90-277-2114-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-5462-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-5462-5
Published on behalf of
the International Astronomical Union
by
D. Reidel Publishing Company, P. 0. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland
All Rights Reserved
© 1985 by the International Astronomical Union
Softcover reprint oft he hardcover 1st edition 1985
Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada
by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A.
In all other countries, sold and distributed
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No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized
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the publisher.
A C K NOW LED GEM E N T S
IAU Commission 51 expresses its deep appreciation to the:
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION (IAU)
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)
BOSTON UNIVERSITY (B.U.)
for their generous financial and moral support, which made possible this
first IAU Symposium of our new lAU Commission.
D E D I CAT ION
I would like to dedicate this Volume to my mother
MS. THEMITSA PAPAGIANNIS
who follows with love from Greece all the work we do.
v
ORGANIZING COMMISSION OF IAU SYMPOSIUM 112
IAU COMMISSION 51 - SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE
COSPONSORING IAU COMMISSIONS
NO. 15 - PHYSICAL STUDY OF COMETS, MINOR PLANETS AND METEORITES
NO. 16 - PHYSICAL STUDY OF PLANETS
NO. 24 - PHOTOGRAPHIC ASTROMETRY
NO. 40 - RADIO ASTRONOMY
COSPONSORING INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
COSPAR (ICSU COMMITTEE OF SPACE RESEARCH)
IAF/IAA (INTERN. ASTRONAUT. FED./ INTERN. ACAD. OF ASTRONAUT.)
ISSOL (INTERN. SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN OF LIFE)
IUBS (INTERNATIONAL UNION OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DEDICATION ....................................... v
SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZATION' COSPONSORSHIPS ............................ vi
~~
SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE &L OCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE ...... xiii
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS ................................................. xv
PREFACE, M.D. Papagiannis ........................................... xix
FIGURE 1, Morrison holding commemorative plaque with Papagiannis
and Drake ......................................................... xxiii
FIGURE 2, Purcell, Morrison, Sagan, Papagiannis, and Drake
at the Symposium Banquet ............................................ xxv
SECTION I. HISTORY AND SPECIAL EVENTS ................................. 1
INTRODUCTION, The Editor .............................................. 3
A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL
LIFE, Michael D. Papagiannis ......................................... 5
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL
COMMUNICATIONS, Philip Morrison.: .................................... 13
SETI IS COMING OF AGE, Giuseppe Cocconi .............................. 21
WELCOMING ADDRESS, Arthur G.B. Metcalf ............................... 23
INVOCATION, Bishop Demetrios Trakatellis ............................. 25
SECTION II. THE SEARCH FOR OTHER PLANETARY SySTEMS ................... 27
INTRODUCTION, The Editor ............................................. 29
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
A REVIEW OF THE SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE AND METHODS USED IN THE
SEARCH FOR OTHER PLANETARY SYSTEMS, David C. Black ................... 33
PROTOPLANETARY MATERIAL AROUND NEARBY STARS, Hartmut H. Aumann ....... 43
ON THE NUMBER OF GALACTIC PLANETARY SYSTEMS, Steven Beckwith ......... 51
PLANETARY SEARCHES USING OPTICAL ASTROMETRIC INTERFEROMETERS,
D.H. Staelin, M.M. Colavita, and M.Shao .............................. 59
A NEW OBJECTIVE FOR THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY 30-INCH REFRACTOR,
G.D. Gatewood, J.K. de Jonge, J. Stein, and C. DiFatta ............... 65
PROSPECTS FOR SPACE TELESCOPE IN THE SEARCH FOR OTHER PLANETARY
SYSTEMS, J.L. RusselL ............................................... 75
DETECTING DISTANT PLANETS WITH SPACE TELESCOPE, Thornton Page ........ 85
ABSOLUTE ASTRONOMICAL ACCELEROMETRY: A NEW TOOL FOR PLANETARY
SEARCHING, Pierre Connes ............................................. 91
ASSISTING EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY DETECTION THROUGH THE DETERMINATION
OF STELLAR SPACE ORIENTATIONS, Laurance R. Doyle ..................... 97
SECTION III. PLANETARY, INTERPLANETARY AND INTERSTELLAR
ORGANIC MATTER ...................... '. .................. 101
INTRODUCTION, The Editor ............................................ 103
TITAN'S ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, C. Sagan, W.R. Thompson,
and B. N. Khare ....................................................... 107
PREBIOTIC MATTER IN INTERSTELLAR MOLECULES, Ronald D. Brown ......... 123
RECENT OBSERVATIONS OF ORGANIC MOLECULES IN NEARBY COLD,
DARK INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS, H. Suzuki, M. Ohishi, M. Morimoto,
N. Kaifu, P. Friberg, W.M. Irvine, H.E. Matthews, and S. Saito ...... 139
INFRARED SPECTRAL IDENTIFICATION OF COMPLEX ORGANIC MOLECULES IN
INTERSTELLAR GRAINS, J. Mayo Greenberg and Willem Schutte ........... 145
UNIVERSAL PROTEIN ANCESTORS FROM HYDROGEN CYANIDE AND WATER,
Clifford N. Matthews ..............•................................. 151
PANSPERMIA - A MODERN ASTROPHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL APPROACH,
J. Mayo Greenberg and Peter Weber ................................... 157
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
NO VALID EVIDENCE EXISTS FOR INTERSTELLAR PROTEINS, BACTERIA, ETC,
R.E. Davies, A.M. Delluva, and R.H. Koch ............................ 165
ASTRONOMICAL SOURCES OF CIRCULARLY POLARIZED LIGHT AND THEIR
ROLE IN DETERMINING MOLECULAR CHIRALITY ON EARTH,
Ramon D.. Wolstencroft ............................................... 171
SECTION IV. UNIVERSAL ASPECTS OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION ............... 177
INTRODUCTION, The Edi tor ............................................ 179
SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS IN CHEMICAL EVOLUTION, Cyril Ponnamperuma .... 185
MOLECULAR REPLICATION, Leslie E. Orgel .............................. 199
THE PRECAMBRIAN EVOLUTION OF TERRESTRIAL LIFE, Andrew H. Knoll ...... 201
HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE VIEW FROM SATURN, Misia Landau ................. 213
SOME IMPLICATIONS OF MASS EXTINCTION FOR THE EVOLUTION OF COMPLEX
LIFE, J. John Sepkoski, Jr .......................................... 223
EVIDENCE FOR A SOLAR COMPANION STAR, Richard A. Muller .............. 233
THE UNIVERSAL DIAGRAMS AND LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, Minas Kafatos ...... 245
UNIVERSAL ASPECTS OF BIOLOGICAL EVOWTION, John A. Bal1. ............ 251
ON THE OCCURRENCE AND APPEARANCE OF GALACTIC LIFE FORMS:
A THERMODYNAMIC APPROACH, G. Bodifee and C. de Loore ................ 255
SECTION V. RADIO SEARCHES - RECENT OBSERVATIONS ..................... 261
INTRODUCTION, The Editor ............................................ 263
SETI OBSERVATIONS WORLDWIDE, Jill Tarter ............................. 271
PROJECT SENTINEL: ULTRA-NARROWBAND SETI AT HARVARD/SMITHSONIAN,
Paul Horowitz and John Forster ...................................... 291
THE OHIO SETI PROGRAM - THE FIRST DECADE, Robert S. Dixon ........... 305
A SEARCH IN THE INFRARED TO MICROWAVE FOR ASTROENGINEERING
ACTIVITY, V.I. Slysh ................................................ 315
x TABLE OF CONTENTS
SEARCH FOR STRONGLY POLARIZED RADIO EMISSION FROM E.T.I., AND AN
OPTIMIST APPROACH TO THE GREAT SILENCE (FERMI'S PARADOX) ,
J.P. Vallee ......................................................... 321
LUNAR REFLECTIONS OF TERRESTRIAL RADIO LEAKAGE, Woodruff T.
Sullivan, III and Stephen H. Knowles ................................ 327
EAVESDROPPING DETECTION OF RADIO SIGNALS FROM OTHER PLANETS
WITH ONE BIT IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUES USING EXISTING COMPUTERS,
Stephen H. Knowles .................................................. 3.35
SECTION VI. TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS IN RADIO SEARCHES ................ 341
INTRODUCTION, The Editor ............................................ 343
SET!: A MORE ECLECTIC APPROACH, Bernard M. Oliver ................... 351
THE 8-MILLION CHANNEL NARROWBAND ANALYZER, Paul Horowitz,
John Forster, and Ivan Linscott ..................................... 361
THE MULTICHANNEL SPECTRUM ANALYZER, A.M. Peterson, K.S. Chen,
and I.R. Linscott ................................................... 373
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF DETECTION ALGORITHMS FOR THE MCSA,
D. Kent Cullers ..................................................... 385
SETI: THE MICROWAVE SEARCH PROBLEM AND THE TARGETED SEARCH
APPROACH, Charles L. Seeger and John H. Wolfe ....................... 391
SETI: THE MICROWAVE SEARCH PROBLEM AND THE NASA SKY SURVEY
APPROACH, Michael J. Klein and Samuel Gulkis ........................ 397
AN ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF AN ALL SKY SURVEY, Edward T. Olsen,
Anatoly Lokshin, and Samuel Gulkis .................................. 405
OPTIMUM SEARCH STRATEGY FOR RANDOMLY DISTRIBUTED CW
TRANSMITTERS, Samuel Gulkis ........................................ .411
A MILKY WAY SEARCH STRATEGY FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE,
Woodruff T. Sullivan, III, and Kenneth·J. Mighell ................... 419
THE SERENDIP II DESIGN, Dan Werthimer, Jill Tarter, Stuart Bowyer ... 421
NEW 45M RADIO TELESCOPE AND FOURIER-TRANSFORM TYPE SPECTROMETER AT
NOBEYAMA RADIO OBSERVATORY, Hisashi Hirabayashi ..................... 425
TABLE OF CONTENTS xi
SECTION VII. THE FERMI PARADOX AND ALTERNATIVE SEARCH STRATEGIES ... 435
INTRODUCTION, The Editor ............................................ 437
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SPACE COLONIZATION ENTERPRISES,
Frank D. Drake ...................................................... 443
ON THE QUESTION OF INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL, John H. Wolfe ............... 449
EXPONENTIAL EXPANSION: GALACTIC DESTINY OR TECHNOLOGICAL HUBRIS?,
Ben R. Finney ....................................................... 455
WHERE ARE THEY? IMPLICATIONS OF ANCIENT AND FUTURE MIGRATIONS,
Eric M. Jones ....................................................... 465
GALACTIC COLONIZATION AND COMPETITION IN A YOUNG GALACTIC DISK,
Edwin L. Turner ..................................................... 477
EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE: WHERE IS EVERYBODY?, John A. BalL .. .483
FERMI QUESTION, FERMI PARADOX: ONE HIT, ONE OUT,
Char les L. Seeger ................................................... 487
ON A COSMIC ALPHABET, D. Hoang-Binh ................................. 493
ON THE INEVITABILITY AND THE POSSIBLE STRUCTURES OF
SUPERCIVILIZATIONS, Nikolai S. Kardashev ......' ...................... 497
AN INFRARED SEARCH IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AS PART OF A MORE
FLEXIBLE SEARCH STRATEGY, Michael D. Papagiannis .................... 505
SECTION VIII. SUMMARIES, COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS ................... 513
INTRODUCTION, The Editor ............................................ 515
SUMMARY OF SESSION I. fHE SEARCH FOR PLANETS AROUND OTHER STARS,
George D. Gatewood .................................................. 523
SUMMARY OF SESSION II. PLANETARY, INTERPLANETARY AND INTERSTELLAR
ORGANIC MATTER, William M. Irvine ................................... 527
SUMMARY OF SESSION III. UNIVERSAL ASPECTS OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION,
John Billingham ..................................................... 529
QUESTIONMARKS REMAINING, George Marx ................................ 535
TWO ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, John A. Ball .............................. 539