A103 Exoplanetary System Project: Summary

Each student is required to submit this report form in addition to the Project Report. Please fill in all areas indicated.

Name:Connor Lidell

Date: 28 April 2015Group Name: Group 43

Target Star: Gliese 667CNames of known planets: GJ 667Cb and c, unconfirmed d, e, f, gWhat were your contributions to the project? Be specific.

I feel as though I did the bulk of the work for the project. My friend David and his two teammates did a fine job giving me the data and doing the calculations for the habitable zone. I think it took them a couple of weeks to do all of that data collection. Unfortunately, I had to redo most of the work because I needed to understand it. We should have done it all as a group, but basically I ended up putting the project together myself. Three members were supposed to do data, and that happened. So, we're good there. Roger and I were supposed to put the project together. Make the tables, cite, write good paragraphs. I never heard from Roger. We saw him one time at our only group meeting. And, I never heard from him again. So, I ended up doing all of the synthesis myself. I came up with the group conclusions too, so I don't have anything to add there.

If the rest of the group comes up with different conclusions, I'm fine with that! We never talked about it as a group. I just got the data saying that three of the planets were most likely habitable. I would look to their individual assessments to see what their actual conclusions came to be.

But, like I said basically I did all of the work beyond the number crunching and the data gathering. Not a bad thing at all! Just know that my brief personal summary is because the whole project document is my personal summary, if that makes sense.

List fellow group members, their responsibilities, and your estimate of their level of participation as follows: 0 = did not participate, 1 = marginal participant, 2 = active participant, 3 = I have no idea.

1)Name: Victor Tanguy

Level of participation: 2Responsibilities: he did a great job. He gathered all the data with his team.Victor Tanguy worked with Erik Bailey on accurately using the temperature calculation tool. He calculated temperatures for planets C and F as well as gathered data pertaining to dates the planets were discovered as well as the detection methods used. He worked with all the research team as its head, establishing the location of the habitable zone and the planets places within. 2)Name: Erik Bailey

Level of participation: 2Responsibilities: Erik Bailey worked with Victor on accurately using the temperature calculation tool. He calculated temperatures for planets B and H as well as gathered data pertaining to the dates the planets were discovered as well as the detection methods used. He worked with the other researchers on establishing the location of the habitable zone.3)Name: David Stith

Level of participation: 2Responsibilities: David Stith gathered and collected orbital information. He caluculated temperatures for planets E and G as well as gathered data pertaining to the dates the planets were discovered as well as the detection methods used. He also worked on the research team to establish the habitable zone.4)Name: Roger Smith

Level of participation: 1Responsibilities: I am disappointed in Roger. As of now, I have not heard from him for weeks. He did come to our first meeting, but I never heard from him after that So, I do not know how he participated. Give your personal opinion, as opposed to your groups consensus in the submitted Project Report, on the prospects for finding life within your assigned exoplanetary system. Explain your reasoning.

I have no opposition to what I wrote. I will copy my summary here as I wrote it on my own in the project: "Could there be advanced life on these planets? On GJ 667Cc, there is most likely a rocky area with conditions similar to Earth. It absorbs even a little more energy than Earth, making it slightly warmer. But, liquid water can definitely exist on the planet, so with a good atmosphere, there is no reason that life could not develop. In fact, Cc is considered to be one of the most likely exoplanets known to be similar enough to Earth to have a similar possibility for life evolution. It could be possible with the right conditioning of the atmosphere and evolution that life could develop and become advanced. Shown below is an artists image of the surface of GJ 667Cc with a rocky terrain and a river flowing underneath the sunset. Definitely a possibility for life! The other two habitable planets are GJ 667Cf and e. As already discussed, Cf requires a thicker atmosphere and Ce requires an even thicker one. Looking at Fig. 7, it is easy to see that life could be developing on any one of the planets. Ce may be covered over, but those gases in the atmosphere could keep warmth inside. Maybe the organisms convert energy through chemosynthesis. It is unlikely that photosynthesis would go through a thick cover like that. However, organisms above ground may be able to absorb the small amount of energy coming from the star.

Cf is a little more reasonable. If there is liquid water on the planet, energy synthesis could develop from photo or chemo methods. It is important to keep in mind, though, that the star does not give as much energy off. With three potentially habitable planets, Gliese 667C is a very interesting system to watch as we develop technology and can see closer and with more detail into the system."