Is There a Needle in the Haystack? Using Python to Narrow Down the Search for Life in Our Galaxy

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, but what you might not know is that life in any planet - or moon, or basically anything - that crosses one of the Galaxy's arms is (probably) doomed.

Looking for life in other planets is a herculean task, there are just too many of them. But what if we can look only into those that, like our solar system, swirls calmly around, never crossing the danger zone? That can make the task doable.

Why are the arms dangerous? Why does our sun look safe? What does it have to do with code (hint: it has something to do with Python and galpy)? Well, come aboard and see it yourself.

This talk will be done in partnership with Lucas Sampaio de Amorim.

Transcript

1. #buildstuffconf
2. IS THERE A NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK? Using Python to Narrow Down the Search for Life in Our Galaxy Software jungle. Join the tribe!
3. LUCAS SAMPAIO DE AMORIM Student of Astronomy University of Sao Paulo @lucassamp Olá! ARTUR CALIENDO PRADO Computer developer Youse Seguros @artur_caliendo
4. —CARL SAGAN Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe, in which there are far more galaxies than people.
5. What are we looking for? Basically, we are looking for developed life beyond Earth. But there are too many planets out there. Can we narrow down our search?
7. CONDITIONS FOR LIFE As we know it
8. BASIC CONDITIONS FOR LIFE BENIGN ENVIRONMENT Rocky planet, magnetic field etc. STABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY The Ruler of the Habitable Zone! WATER Liquid and vapor!
9. COMPLEX CONDITIONS FOR LIFE DISTANCE FROM THE GALACTIC ARMS Said what?! CONTINUOUS GEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY Volcanos, erosion, etc. LONG-LASTING STAR It can’t die before we are born!
10. And why it will crush you into powder GALACTIC ARMS
11. Supernova
12. COROTATION Rotation curve
13. Rotation curve COROTATION
14. Do it yourself or DIY, if you are in a hurry
15. DON'T DO IT WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION PYTHON It is frequently used for high-performance scientific applications. It is widely used in academia and scientific projects because it is easy to write and performs well. JUPYTER The Jupyter Notebook App is a server-client application that allows editing and running notebook documents via a web browser. GAIA It is so far the most accurate data release of positions and velocities of stars in our galaxy and in others nearby. One billion stars have already been mapped.
16. DON'T DO IT WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION PYTHON It is frequently used for high-performance scientific applications. It is widely used in academia and scientific projects because it is easy to write and performs well. JUPYTER Because it is a planet The Jupyter Notebook App is a server-client application that allows editing and running notebook documents via a web browser. GAIA It is so far the most accurate data release of positions and velocities of stars in our galaxy and in others nearby. One billion stars have already been mapped.
17. DON'T DO IT WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION PYTHON It is frequently used for high-performance scientific applications. It is widely used in academia and scientific projects because it is easy to write and performs well. JUPYTER Because it is a planet The Jupyter Notebook App is a server-client application that allows editing and running notebook documents via a web browser. GAIA It is so far the most accurate data release of positions and velocities of stars in our galaxy and in others nearby. One billion stars have already been mapped.
18. It is Jupyter time!
19. *oversimplified representation Search area for developed life
20. DESPAIR NOT WE ARE SAFE FOR NOW
24. THANKS! Any questions? You can find us at @artur_caliendo @lucassamp
25. Credits Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free: ✘ Jo Bovi ✘ Prof Dr JRD Lépine ✘ Dr. ACSR Carvalho - Astrobiologist - USP ✘ NASA ✘ ESA ✘ Presentation template Flowery by Slidesgo ✘ Flaticon & Freepik.com