Jackson Sroka
Ever since the very early 1900s, people have been using aliens in almost every science fiction movie made. Most people associate these creatures with fiction. However, there is the possibility that life outside of Earth may exist. And it’s closer than you may think.
There are a few things that a planet needs to support life:
Those four things are the basic necessities of life. Earth has all of these things. It was lots of water, lots of sources for food, an atmosphere, and is a good distance from the sun. But are there any other planets that meet these requirements? There are probably many in the universe, but are there any close to us? The answer is yes.
Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system. It's also the second largest of the planets. While the planet itself cannot support life, Saturn has 53 moons. One moon that could support life is the moon, Titan. The icy moon of Titan has many of the things needed for life. Titan has an Earth-like atmosphere and hydrocarbons (a compound of hydrogen and carbon). Both of these things create an environment similar to Earth when life first began here.
Just because life there could exist, does not mean that aliens are already coming to Earth with flying saucers and other sci-fi experiences. We might not even be able to see it yet. Life on Earth didn’t start until 3.8 billion years ago. And multi-cellular life (organisms with multiple cells) didn’t begin until 500 million years ago. That means that life went 3.3 billion years as single cellular (organisms with one cell). Even if there were multicellular organisms, they are probably not intelligent. Or, in the case of Titan, life there might even have already died out.
Despite that, finding life on another planet would be one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in history. Even if there is no life on Titan, there are still many other planets that meet the requirements for life. These planets may be light years away, but we may able to reach them someday!