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
   

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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!
   

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3. LUCAS SAMPAIO DE
   AMORIM
   Student of Astronomy
   University of Sao Paulo
   @lucassamp
   Olá!
   ARTUR CALIENDO PRADO
   Computer developer
   Youse Seguros
   @artur_caliendo
   

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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.
   

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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?
   

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7. CONDITIONS FOR LIFE
   As we know it
   

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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!
   

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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!
   

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10. And why it will crush you into powder
    GALACTIC ARMS
    

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11. Supernova
    

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12. COROTATION
    Rotation curve
    

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13. Rotation curve
    COROTATION
    

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14. Do it yourself
    or DIY, if you are in a hurry
    

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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.
    

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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.
    

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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.
    

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18. It is Jupyter time!
    

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19. *oversimplified representation
    Search area for developed
    life
    

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20. DESPAIR NOT
    WE ARE SAFE
    FOR NOW
    

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24. THANKS!
    Any questions?
    You can find us at
    @artur_caliendo
    @lucassamp
    

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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
    

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