Astrobiology

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Nucleic acids are not the only possible biomolecules as the basis for living processes

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary natural science that deals with the study of the origin, evolution , distribution and future of life in the universe . This includes:

  • The search for and exploration of extrasolar habitable planets and moons
  • The search for traces of chemical evolution as well as former or still existing life in our solar system (e.g. life on Mars )
  • Laboratory and field studies of the origin of life and early evolution on earth
  • Studies on the possible adaptation of life in very inhospitable places ( extremophiles ) on earth and in space

The aim of this research is to make statements and conclusions about the origin and evolution of life on earth and - parallel to this - in the universe and to find out whether and in what way life exists or could exist outside the earth.

history

Exobiology was the predecessor term for astrobiology in the early days of space travel , but today it only describes a sub-area of ​​astrobiology. In 1959, NASA started its first exobiology project, followed by an exobiology program the following year until the astrobiology program was founded in 1996. In 1998 the NASA Astrobiology Institute was founded.

The term astrobiology was probably first used in the 1930s by Ary J. Sternfeld and in 1941 by L. J. Lafleur in a scientific publication. The astronomer Otto von Struve used the term in the 1950s, and in 1995 NASA took it over for their astrobiological institute. It is originally characteristic of the approach from astronomy. In the English-speaking area, however, this designation has largely established itself since then.

In the 1950s and 1960s, astrobiology drew heavy criticism, e. B. as "science that still has to show that its research object exists" ( George Gaylord Simpson , 1964), or by Otto von Struve, who found in 1955 that "the time is not yet ripe" for astrobiology.

In 1982 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) founded a research commission for bio-astronomy (Division III Commission 51 Bio-Astronomy).

In the 1950s, the astrophysicist Gawriil Adrianowitsch Tichow (1875–1960) dealt with astrobiological issues in what was then the Soviet Union. Tichow headed the Institute for Astrobotany in Almaty , which existed until 1960.

The German Astrobiological Society (DAbG) was the first German scientific society to be founded in 2016 at a congress at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin.

See also

literature

  • Gerda Horneck, et al .: Complete course in astrobiology. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-527-40660-9 .
  • David Catling: Astrobiology: a very short introduction. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 2013, ISBN 978-0-19-958645-5 .
  • Iain Gilmour, et al .: An introduction to astrobiology. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2004, ISBN 0-521-83736-7 .
  • Steven J. Dick: The impact of discovering life beyond earth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2015, ISBN 978-1-107-10998-8 .
  • Aleksandar Janjic: Habitat Universe - Introduction to Exoecology . Springer Nature, Heidelberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-662-54787-8 .
  • Aleksandar Janjic: Astrobiology - the search for extraterrestrial life. Springer Nature, Heidelberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-662-59491-9 .
  • Kevin W.Plaxco: Astrobiology for Beginners. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-527-41145-0 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Astrobiology  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Launching the Alien Debates (part 1 of 7) . In: Astrobiology Magazine . NASA. December 8, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  2. About Astrobiology. (No longer available online.) NASA September 26, 2014, archived from the original on October 11, 2008 ; Retrieved October 10, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / astrobiology.nasa.gov
  3. Danielle Briot: Is it the first use of the word Astrobiology? In: arXiv [physics]. 2012, arxiv : 1207.1491 .
  4. LJ Lafleur: Astrobiology. In: Leaflet of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 3, 1941, p. 333, bibcode : 1941ASPL .... 3..333L .
  5. Astrobiology. daviddarling.info, accessed August 28, 2013.
  6. ^ S. Dick: The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology. 2004, p. 283 (Online archive.org , accessed on August 28, 2013).
  7. ^ George Gaylord Simpson : The Nonprevalence of Humanoids. Science , February 21, 1964, accessed October 15, 2014 .
  8. ASTROBIOLOGY: The Study of the Living Universe. (PDF) April 29, 2005, accessed October 15, 2014 .
  9. Chyba, Hand: Astrobiology: The Study of the Living Universe . In: Annual Review of Astronomy & Astrophysics . tape 43 , 2005, p. 31–74 , bibcode : 2005ARA & A..43 ... 31C bibcode * ID with undesired URL encoding (English).
  10. What is Bioastronomy? The International Astronomical Union's Commission 51.
  11. ^ Division III Commission 51 Bio-Astronomy. ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. At: iau.org. Retrieved March 22, 2011.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iau.org
  12. ^ MD Papagiannis: Report of IAU Commission 51: Search for extraterrestrial life. NASA ADS. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  13. Tikhov, Gavriil Adrianovich (1875-1960). At: daviddarling.info.
  14. ^ Iosif S. Šklovskij, Carl Sagan: Intelligent life in the universe. Holden-Day, San Francisco 1966. OCLC 185980107 , preface, viii.
  15. THE SOVIET BIOASTRONAUTICS RESEARCH PROGRAM ( Memento from June 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  16. Astrobiology: Networked research in German-speaking countries. astronews.com (German)
  17. ^ A Boost for Astrobiology in Germany airspacemag.com