Fosdick’s Astrobiology Series – Index

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I.  Astrobiology Generally 

A Cluster Of E. Coli Bacteria (magnification: 10,000 times), Public domain image, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganism
A Cluster Of E. Coli Bacteria (magnification: 10,000 times), Public domain image, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganism

A.  The Search for Microbial Life Beyond Earth

1.  “Life 101” for Astrobiology

2.  The Development of Early life on Earth

a)  The Miller-Urey Experiment (1953) – Its Significance and Powerful Suggestion

Various allotropes (structural variations) of carbon (joined with itself). Carbon-based molecules exhibit great variety ... even when limited to only carbon! Image: Created by Michael Ströck, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotropes_of_carbon
Various allotropes (structural variations) of carbon (joined with itself). Carbon-based molecules exhibit great variety … even when limited to only carbon! Image: Created by Michael Ströck, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotropes_of_carbon

3.  Key Requirements for Known Life: Liquid Water

a)  Basic Liquid Phase Water Physics for Astrobiology

4.  Key Requirements for Known Life: Carbon

5.  Key Requirements for Known Life: Six Elements

6.  Basic Organic Chemistry for Astrobiology

Honey - high in glucose, a sugar that is oxidized for energy by most life on earth, from bacteria to humans. Image: public domain, available at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Runny_hunny.jpg
Honey – high in glucose, a sugar that is oxidized for energy by most life on earth, from bacteria to humans. Image: public domain, available at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Runny_hunny.jpg

7.  Basic Biochemistry for Astrobiology

8.  Basic Cellular Metabolism for Astrobiology

9.  The Search for Life on Solar System Moons

a)  Europa, Moon of Jupiter

b)  Titan, Moon of Saturn

c)  Enceladus, Moon of Saturn

A volcanic hot spring - one of many unlikely abodes of archaea microorganisms. Might hardy microbes thrive elsewhere in the solar system and beyond?
A volcanic hot spring – one of many unlikely abodes of archaea microorganisms. Might hardy microbes thrive elsewhere in the solar system and beyond?

10.  The possibility of non-water solvents for life

a)  Ammonia as a Possible Solvent for Life

b)  Methane as a Possible Solvent for Life

(1) Life on Titan with Methane as a Solvent?

B.  The Search for Intelligent Life Beyond the Solar System

From the 1997 movie, "Contact"
From the 1997 movie, “Contact”

1.  Radio SETI

a)  Radio SETI – The “Water Hole”

C.  The Search for Life in Solar Systems Beyond Our Own

This artist’s impression shows a sunset (speculated and hypothetical) as seen from an exoplanet in another solar system - super-Earth Gliese 667 Cc, in a triple star system. Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada. Source: http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1214a/.
This artist’s impression shows a sunset (speculated and hypothetical) as seen from an exoplanet in another solar system – super-Earth Gliese 667 Cc, in a triple star system. Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada. Source: http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1214a/.

1.  Introduction: Speculated Habitability of Planets and Moons Beyond the Solar System

2. The Circumstellar Habitable Zone (CHZ), Its Limitations, and the Role of Tidal Force

© 2015 Fosdick EDS

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