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Astronomy/NEPTUNE
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Question
WHAT ARE CHANCES THAT LIFE EXISTS OR MAY HAVE EXISTED ON PLANET NEPTUNE?
The possibility is almost zero. The conditions on the planet are not friendly to life as we know it. The surface of the planet is very cold ammonia ice on top of a rocky core with high internal temperatures. Somewhere in the temperature range of -200ºC at the upper atmosphere, to 5000ºC at the planet's core, there could be a very remote possibility of some life, but not like we know. Although water in ice form at least, is known to exist on Neptune, there is no oxygen or carbon dioxide, so our type of animal and plant life could not exist there. There are also poisonous substances there (ammonia and methane among others).
Was there a possibility of life in the past? I think not. The morphology of the planet was not any better in the past than now. This is the only thing I am not completely sure on. There may have been a time where conditions were right, like when life started on Earth, among the lightning and primordial atmosphere where conditions for amino acid formation were possible. But I don't think that anything more than that could have ever existed on Neptune.
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Answers by Expert:
Jesse Martinez
Expertise
General and specific questions about the solar system and stellar and galactic astronomy, are what I can easily answer off the top of my head. For example, what is the largest planet in the solar system? How far away is the moon? Have there been any confirmed planets in orbit around stars other than the sun? How many stars are there? The tougher ones like explaining the big bang theory and black holes I will leave to the PhD’s. Even though I could muster an answer, I would have to research it more than I would like. I would also like to answer questions that involve Astronomy with other sciences, chemistry, biology, physics, geology and mathematics as long as they are not PhD level.
Experience
I have been into astronomy since I was 8 years old. I have kept detailed journals of my observations through small telescopes. Over the years I have participated in amateur observation projects for organizations like ALPO. My personal research has involved "discovering" the moons of Jupiter with a 4½-inch Newtonian reflector without any outside information like charts and tables. In a summer long project, I determined the existence of and plotted the orbits of the four major moons of Jupiter. From these observations, my data on orbital elements was surprisingly accurate (orbital radius and orbital period).
Education/Credentials
80 hours of college credits while studying physics and geophysics. Completed correspondence photography course while in high school. Took two semesters of electronics training at a community college. Studied computers and graduated from a technical school at the turn of the millennium, gaining A+ and Microsoft Certified Professional credentials.
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