Astrobiology

by Debra Fischer, Allyson Sheffield, Joshua Tan, and Lily Ling Zhao

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Interested in what scientists have been doing to investigate the existence of life in the Universe? This text will explore the different avenues that can be taken in trying to answer the question, "Is there life beyond the Earth?"

Description from LibreTexts.

Subjects
Physics, Astronomy Cosmology
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as LibreTexts states it. Non-commercial use only.
Who can read
Tweens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

LibreTexts writes equations in TeX, and here they show as TeX; the PDF has them typeset.

  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. 1: Understanding the Cosmos
  7. 1.1: Sizing Up the Cosmos
  8. 1.2: Energy and Light
  9. 1.3: Spectroscopy and Stars
  10. 1.4: Laws of Motion and Gravity
  11. 2: The Chemistry of Life
  12. 2.1: Introduction to Atoms and Elements
  13. 2.2: Basic Chemistry of Life
  14. 2.3: Key Biochemicals- Amino Acids, Nucleic Acids, and the Genetic Code
  15. 2.4: Alternative Biochemistries- Speculations about Strange Possibilities
  16. 3: Origins of Life
  17. 3.1: Definition of Life
  18. 3.2: From Biochemistry to Biology
  19. 3.3: Emergence of Life on Earth
  20. 3.4: Development of Life on Earth
  21. 3.5: Extremophiles
  22. 4: The Search for Life in Our Solar System
  23. 4.1: Solar System Formation
  24. 4.2: Earth Characteristics
  25. 4.3: Searching for Life In Our Solar System
  26. 4.4: The Search for Life on Mars
  27. 4.5: The Jovian Moons
  28. 5: The Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System
  29. 5.1: The Habitable Zone
  30. 5.2: Exoplanets- Early History and Direct Imaging and Doppler Detection Methods
  31. 5.3: Transit, Astrometry and Gravitational Microlensing Techniques
  32. 5.4: Exoplanets- Statistics and Modern Discoveries
  33. 6: Searches for Technological and Intelligent Life in the Universe
  34. 6.1: The Challenges of Space Flight
  35. 6.2: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
  36. 6.3: Biosignatures and Technosignatures
  37. 6.4: The Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox
  38. 6.5: Speculations and Skepticism
  39. Back Matter
  40. Index
  41. Glossary
  42. Detailed Licensing