Are We Alone—Do Aliens Exist?
By Max Levy
Our solar system is around two light years, or twelve trillion miles, in length. The Milky Way Galaxy is about fifty thousand times larger at one hundred thousand light years. Even larger, the known universe is about ninety two billion light years long. With all this space, we can’t be alone. Right? This seems to be the question that our planet is desperate to answer.
Currently, the answer seems to be no. While there have been many claims to the discovery of extraterrestrial life, there has been no official confirmation of alien existence by the United States government or the global scientific community. This is not to say that aliens do not exist. In fact, as a planet, we are trying to find celestial neighbors. For one, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has made it one of their main missions to scour the universe for extraterrestrial life. NASA’s most popular hunting ground for aliens has been the red planet right next to us—Mars. As of 2021, NASA has sent “five rovers and four landers” to Mars to explore its surface and search for life. Although the information they have gathered so far has been inconclusive, there are many more places suitable for alien life. For instance, NASA has also been exploring the icy moons of the outer planets of our solar system that could possibly store life in their subsurface oceans. Nonetheless, these endeavors are taking place within the small confines of the solar system. So it is unimaginable what we will discover once we have the means to travel further into the universe.
For now, aliens only exist in our imagination. Yet, with more research and projects ahead, it can’t be too long until some lifeform is discovered in the vastness of our universe. Or maybe, as famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once said, “we’ve never been visited by aliens because they have looked upon Earth and decided there’s no sign of intelligent life.”
Works Cited
Do Aliens Exist? We Asked a NASA Scientist: Episode 5 - NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/do-aliens-exist-we-asked-a-nasa-scientist-episode-5/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2023.
Gordon, Jonathan, and Nola Taylor Tillman published. “How Big Is the Universe?” Space.Com, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.space.com/24073-how-big-is-the-universe.html.
How Big Is the Solar System? | Wonderopolis. https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-big-is-the-solar-system#:~:text=Using%20the%20Oort%20Cloud%20as,to%20almost%2012%20trillion%20miles. Accessed 27 Dec. 2023.
Imagine the Universe!https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/features/cosmic/milkyway_info.html#:~:text=Distance%20Information&text=The%20Milky%20Way%20is%20about,the%20center%20of%20our%20Galaxy. Accessed 27 Dec. 2023.
