1. 1 Astronomy190 - Topics in Astronomy Astronomy and Astrobiology Lecture 1 : What is Astrobiology? Ty Robinson

2. 2 Syllabus I

3. 3 Campus Map

4. 4 Syllabus II

5. 5 Syllabus III

6. 6 Syllabus IV

7. 7 Schedule I

8. 8 SciFi Report I

9. 9 SciFi Report II

10. 10 SciFi Report III

11. 11 Questions? What assignment is due Monday? purchase the textbook research SciFi books none purchase SciFi book

12. 12 Life Beyond Our Solar System “ There are countless suns and countless earths all rotating around their suns in exactly the same way as the seven planets of our system. We see only the suns because they are the largest bodies and are luminous, but their planets remain invisible to us because they are smaller and non-luminous. The countless worlds in the universe are no worse and no less inhabited than our Earth. ” - GIORDANO BRUNO (1584)

13. 13 Questions of the Day How is the science of astrobiology defined? What are astrobiologists looking for? What types of studies do astrobiologists perform?

14. 14 What is Astrobiology? “The study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the Universe.” “The study of the origin and evolution of life on Earth and the application of these studies to our search for life in the Universe.”  

15. 15 Astrobiology in Pop Culture Take a few minutes to think of 3 movies/stories that you have encountered in the last year which deal with astrobiology.

16. 16 What are we looking for?

17. 17 Is it reasonable?

18. 18 Meet the Astrobiology Family Earth & Planetary Science Astronomy & Astrophysics Biology

19. 19 Questions? Which of the following could also be used to argue that it is reasonable to expect life exists beyond Earth? life on Earth is Carbon-based no matter where we look on Earth, we find life Earth is just the right temperature for life Mars once had liquid water on its surface

20. 20 NASA Astrobiology Institute Roadmap

21. 21 Goal #1

22. 22 The Kepler Mission Transit Telescope T. Brown and D. Charbonneau Measures stellar brightness changes caused by transiting terrestrial planets. Monitoring 100,000 stars for 4 years! Launched 2009

23. 23 Fomalhaut b Pisces austrinus 120 AU Mass of Neptune? Jupiter? Orbit of Neptune

24. 24 Goal #2

25. 25 Mars Phoenix Lander heat shield parachute Phoenix

26. 26 Goal #3

27. 27 Delivery of Organics Fragment of Murchison Meteorite (~82 kg recovered) Organics Present in Murchison Meteorite (Pizzarello 2003)

28. 28 Goal #4

29. 29 Mass Extinctions Manicouagan Crater, Quebec ~100 km Chicxulub Crater, Yucatan Peninsula ~100 km

30. 30 Goal #5

31. 31 Extreme Environments Chvian et al. 2008 NASA Astrobiology Institute Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator “Strain 121” Kashefi & Lovley 2003

32. 32 Goal #6

33. 33 Rise of Oxygen Credit: Paul Hoffman

34. 34 Goal #7

35. 35 Earth Observations

36. 36 Questions? Which roadmap goal encompasses studies concerning the effects of global climate change on the biosphere? Goal #3 Goal #4 Goal #6 Goal #5

37. 37 Questions of the Day How is the science of astrobiology defined? What are astrobiologists looking for? What types of studies do astrobiologists perform?