How can cosmochemistry help us find life beyond Earth?

Space science is influenced by different fields such as astrophysics, astrobiology, archaeoastronomy, planetary geophysics, astrogeology, solar physics, among others. Unfortunately, one of the most interesting areas of astronomy is not well known: Cosmochemistry is a study that can help us find life beyond Earth, based on different scientific concepts.

According to experts in the field, Cosmochemistry enables science to better understand data from various space objects such as planets, satellites, and stars. Scientists can use the information gained from this to answer one of humanity’s primitive questions. After all, is there any life outside Earth?

The word ‘Cosmochemistry’ emerged from the combination of the words ‘cosmology’ and ‘chemistry’. In addition to trying to discover the possibility of life outside Earth, studying the area also Can answer how the world was formed and how humans developed from all the chemical elements that created the planet.

“Cosmochemistry is the study of things in space, the actual materials that make up planets, stars, moons, comets, and asteroids. This material can take on any type of matter: solid, liquid, gas and plasma. Cosmochemistry differs from astronomy, which is primarily concerned with the study of light interacting with these things. Studying real astromaterials has two primary benefits: First, the materials allow us to peer into the deep past by recording the conditions when and where they formed; and second, laboratory measurements of materials are extraordinarily accurate and precise and continue to improve as technology advances,” Dr. Ryan Ogliore, an associate professor of physics at the University of Washington, said in a message to the website EvrenToday.

We’ve gathered information from scientists and experts in the field to help you understand a little more about what cosmochemistry is and how it can help us find life beyond Earth.

What is cosmochemistry?

In a few words, Cosmochemistry is the study of the chemical composition of matter in the universe and all the processes that lead to the formation of these compositions. Most of the observations made by scientists in this field are made on objects located in the Solar System; Meteorites are one of the most studied structures.

Many of the meteorites consist of material as old as the Solar System, providing important information about the first solar nebula that gave rise to the system. Researchers also found about 0.1% presolar material in older such objects; that is, they formed before everything around us existed.

Chemical cosmology methods often perform laboratory analyzes of meteorites and other samples collected in space. The problem lies precisely in collecting these samples because it is not an easy task. For example, currently only Japan, the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union have succeeded in establishing sample-collecting space programs.

By analyzing these materials, scientists can understand whether Earth’s primitive organic compounds were supplied by such cosmic objects. Dr. Oligore makes clear that this does not mean that life began this way on Earth or elsewhere, but that the study could help find answers about this and other possibilities, such as the search for life beyond Earth.

“One of the main benefits of cosmochemistry is the ability to reproduce measurements. I can measure something in my laboratory and someone else can verify my measurements by measuring the same object or a very similar object in another laboratory. Only after repeated measurements with different laboratories and different techniques does a certain statement become universal in society.” “This is difficult to do in astronomy, and it is also difficult to use remote sensing measurements on spacecraft studying other objects in the Solar System,” adds Dr. Ogliore.

The future of cosmochemistry and astrobiology

For the accurate detection of the existence of extraterrestrial life, Cosmochemists will need to make laboratory measurements with different techniques to make sure the data is completely accurate. Dr. According to Ogliore, this may be the only way to be sure that life exists in places scientists already suspect, such as Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Like cosmochemistry, astrobiology is a field of space science that seeks to answer one of the most primitive questions in the universe: Is there life outside Earth? Researchers in this field study planetary and stellar processes by combining knowledge and techniques from fields such as astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, oceanography, among other scientific fields.

Astrobiology was first mentioned in 1935, but began to be studied more starting in the late 1990s. Although it is a relatively young field of study, space agencies such as the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (European Space Agency) (ESA) Plan missions to search for possible signs of life in the Solar System and beyond.

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