Astronomy ›  Unit 6

Unit 6 Life in the Universe & Exploration

Exoplanets, astrobiology, and the missions that go looking. The course ends here, with The Biosignature Case — everything you've learned this semester, put to use.

🕐 ~2 weeks🅰️ 4 Activities🅿️ 2 Projects🎓 Course Capstone
Astronomy Home

The Path Through Unit 6

A space telescope just returned an exoplanet's atmospheric spectrum — and buried in the absorption lines is a mix of gases that could mean something, or could mean nothing at all. Read the full case →
AActivity4 days total
6-1-1Finding the Unseen — Transit and Radial-Velocity Detection
2 days→
6-1-2The Habitable Zone — Evaluating Exoplanet Candidates
2 days→
PProject🕐 3 class days

6-1-3  Design a World

Design and pitch a hypothetical exoplanet, then argue its habitability using real detection data — transit depth, orbital distance, and everything that would actually have to line up.

Turn in: Exoplanet design pitch with supporting detection dataOpen →
AActivity4 days total
6-2-1Extremophiles — What Earth's Toughest Life Tells Us
2 days→
6-2-2Missions Past and Present — Rovers, Probes, and Telescopes
2 days→
PProject🕐 4 class days

6-2-3  Propose the Next Mission

As a team, propose a new space mission — destination, instruments, and the specific science goal it's built to answer. This is the semester's biggest group build.

Turn in: Group mission proposal (destination, instruments, science goal)Open →
BProblem🕐 4 class days

6-3-1  The Biosignature Case

Course capstone. You're handed a real exoplanet atmospheric spectrum and asked to make the call: is this world worth the follow-up funding, or just an interesting coincidence? Synthesize everything from the semester to defend your answer.

Turn in: Final presentation/defense: biosignature case or mission proposalOpen →