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A PLACE FOR LIFE

Formation of Our Solar System

Ingredients for Life

Habitability

Exoplanets
The Habitable Zone
The Anthropic Principle
Are We Alone?
Revolutions
Self-Assessment Questions
Suggested Classroom Activities
Learning Objectives
Research Profiles

Credits

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A Place for Life: A Special Astronomy Exhibit of Understanding Evolution

Habitability

Life requires the right ingredients to get started, but it also needs the right
conditions. Searching for life elsewhere in the Universe can help us learn about
whether life is common or rare, as well as understand more about how life on our
own planet began.

In our search for life beyond Earth, we may begin close to home, by considering the
prospects elsewhere in our Solar System. Our dry, airless Moon is not suitable for
life, but there are other places where the conditions may be (or once may have
been) right. Detailed observations of the planet Mars from orbiting spacecraft and
from robots on its surface (in particular the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity
rovers) have provided evidence that liquid water flowed on the Martian landscape
earlier in its history. Could life have arisen on this warmer, wetter Mars? So far,
there is no definitive evidence, but investigating this question is a major focus
for NASA and international space agencies.

Elsewhere in our Solar System, Jupiters moon Europa, as well as Saturns moon
Enceladus, are thought to have a liquid ocean beneath a thick surface layer of ice.
And Saturns largest moon Titan is rich in organic compounds, including methane
although if liquid water exists on that moon, it must be deep beneath its frozen
surface. These moons are all in the distant Solar System, where the Sun provides
little heat, but other processes such as tidal heating and volcanism may provide
the energy to sustain life there.

Newton Crater on Mars

Newton Crater on Mars is a large basin formed by an asteroid impact that probably
occurred more than 3 billion years ago. It is approximately 287 kilometers (178
miles) across. The picture highlights the north wall of a specific, smaller crater
located in the southwestern quarter of Newton Crater. The many gullies eroded into
it are hypothesized to have been formed by flowing water and debris flows. Debris
transported with the water created lobed and finger-like deposits at the base of
the crater wall where it intersects the floor (bottom center top image). Many of
the finger-like deposits have small channels indicating that a liquid, most likely
water, flowed in these areas.

Eruopa, Jupiter's moon

Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa

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Exoplanets

Images of Newton Crater and Europa courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Habitability
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