Life On Earth... And Elsewhere?

T. Montmerle , P. Claeys , M. Gargaud (1, 2, 3) , P. López-García , H. Martin , R. Pascal , J. Reisse , Franck Selsis

1 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
2 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
3 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]

This concluding chapter is divided into two main parts. The first part is a summary of the main facts and events which constitute the present body of knowledge of the chronology of life in the solar system, in the form of ‘‘highlights'' in astronomy, geology, chemistry and biology. The second part raises the interrogation ‘‘Is life universal?'', and tries to provide answers based on these facts and events. These answers turn out to differ widely among the various disciplines, depending on how far they feel able to extrapolate their current knowledge.

Mots clés: Astrobiology; chemical evolution; early Earth; early Mars; early Venus; eukaryotes; exoplanets; habitable planets; Late Heavy Bombardment; microfossils; Moon; origin of life; prebiotic molecules; solar system; star planet information; supernovae; universality of life

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

T. Montmerle, P. Claeys, M. Gargaud, P. López-García, H. Martin, et al.. Life On Earth... And Elsewhere?. Earth, Moon, and Planets, 2006, 98, pp.299-312. ⟨10.1007/s11038-006-9093-7⟩. ⟨hal-00120103⟩