Foresta 1 Matt Foresta Professor Christopher Astronomy 5 Honors 4 April 2012 Podcast #2 1) Encore: The Birth, Life, and

Death of Alien Planets 2) 3/25/2012 3) Daniel Pendick made the podcast. He works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and is a science writer and blogger. I believe him because anyone who works at such a prestigious place must have excellent qualifications. 4) I chose this podcast because I am very interested in extrasolar planets. They interest me because they could be the key to finding life beyond Earth. 5) The podcast dealt with the lifecycle of extrasolar planets. It began by describing how large planets like Jupiter are formed in accretion disks by gaining mass through gathering dust and gaining the ability to accrete gas. It goes on to explain that terrestrial planets are formed when large bodies the size of Mars slam into each other, coalesce into larger bodies, and comets deliver the elements that become oceans and atmospheres. The podcast went on to explain how the gravitational pull of a star can affect the planets tides and volcanism. It concluded by saying that extrasolar planets have even been found in the wake of supernovas orbiting pulsars, and that they are discovering all kinds of different extrasolar planets. 6) I thought the podcast had many interesting points. Most interesting of all from my perspective was that planets can orbit pulsars. I would have thought a supernova would just obliterate a planet but apparently not. I also found it interesting to learn how much gravity can affect a planet. It was also fascinating to find out how much comets have to do with forming atmospheres.