III. Ecosmos: A Revolutionary Fertile, Habitable, Solar-Bioplanet, Incubator Lifescape

G. An Astrochemistry to Astrobiological Spontaneity

Ruf, Alexander, et al. Data-Driven Astrochemistry: One Step Further within the Origin of Life Puzzle. Life. 8/2, 2018. Technical University of Munchen and University of Aix-Marseille biogeochemists contribute to ways to identify and arrange the vast array of increasingly complex biochemical precursors that now compose a celestial organic broth for life’s origins and development.

In this review, clarifications on astrochemistry, comet chemistry, laboratory astrophysics and meteoritic research with respect to organic and metalorganic chemistry will be given. The seemingly large number of observed astrochemical molecules necessarily requires explanations on molecular complexity and chemical evolution, which will be discussed. Special emphasis should be placed on data-driven analytical methods including ultrahigh-resolving instruments and their interplay with quantum chemical computations. The precise description of astrochemical organic and metalorganic matter as seeds for life and their interactions within various astrophysical environments may appear essential to further study questions regarding the emergence of life on a most fundamental level that is within the molecular world and its self-organization properties. (Abstract excerpt)

Rushby, Andrew, et al. Habitable Zone Lifetimes of Exoplanets around Main Sequence Stars. Astrobiology. 13/9, 2013. A paper by University of East Anglia, and University College, London, environmentalists, including Andrew Watson, in an issue on “The Future Science of Exoplanets,” see Lammer above. What can our surmise be – a grand new universe, hardly yet realized, of orbital bands of bioworlds upon which life and mind are favored to appear, evolve, and develop to a collective self-sentience. In regard, solar systems could be seen as energizing incubators. And on one very special, valiant, Earth sapient collaborative peoples begin to sense a celestial neighborhood to choose and sustain life for.

The potential habitability of newly discovered exoplanets is initially assessed by determining whether their orbits fall within the circumstellar habitable zone of their star. However, the habitable zone (HZ) is not static in time or space, and its boundaries migrate outward at a rate proportional to the increase in luminosity of a star undergoing stellar evolution, possibly including or excluding planets over the course of the star’s main sequence lifetime. We describe the time that a planet spends within the HZ as its ‘‘habitable zone lifetime.’’ The HZ lifetime of a planet has strong astrobiological implications and is especially important when considering the evolution of complex life, which is likely to require a longer residence time within the HZ. The HZ lifetime should be considered in future models of planetary habitability as setting an upper limit on the lifetime of any potential exoplanetary biosphere, and also for identifying planets of high astrobiological potential for continued observational or modeling campaigns. (Abstract excerpts)

Sadjadi, SeyedAbdolreza and Quentin Parker. The Astrochemistry Implications of Quantum Chemical Modes Vibrational Analysis. arXiv.1811.08547. We note this entry by University of Hong Kong, Laboratory for Space Research astroscientists for its evidence of how cosmic materiality seems innately made to form biomolecular complexities, and as another instance of how collective human intellect can so readily explore and quantify any width and depth of this universal spacescape. Surely there must be some grand reason and purpose if me + We might just be able to ask.

Saitoh, Takayuki. Chemical Evolution Library for Galaxy Formation Simulation. arXiv:1612.02260. An Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology astrophysicist offers a detailed proposal for a “library of cosmos” catalog of celestial material formations based on an array of structural and dynamic properties. Our interest is to view this achievement as an example of human intellect taking on a functional, constructive role with regard to the whole universe.

We have developed a software library for chemical evolution simulations of galaxy formation under the simple stellar population (SSP) approximation. In this library, all of the necessary components concerning chemical evolution, such as initial mass functions, stellar lifetimes, yields from type II and Ia supernovae, asymptotic giant branch stars, and neutron star mergers, are compiled from the literature. Various models are pre-implemented in this library so that users can choose their favorite combination of models. Subroutines of this library return released energy and masses of individual elements depending on a given event type. Since the redistribution manner of these quantities depends on the implementation of users' simulation codes, this library leaves it up to the simulation code. In these simulations, we can easily compare the impact of individual models on the chemical evolution of galaxies, just by changing the control flags and parameters of the library. (Abstract)

Sanchez-Lavega, Agustin. ‘Planetodiveristy:’ the Variety of Planets and Planetary Systems in the Universe. Contemporary Physics. 47/3, 2006. The author, at the Universidad del Pais Vasco, Bilbao, Spain, coined the title akin to ‘biodiversity’ as a way to illustrate the wide array, filling every niche, of orbital or free-floating objects and of their solar hosts from one to several stars. A good survey article as earthkind begins to populate the galaxy and cosmos with neighbors to a degree unthinkable a decade ago.

The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia. www.exoplanet.eu. A researcher at CNRS - Paris Observatory posts this comprehensive website all about earth’s new abilities to detect a grand array of planetary objects in the galaxy and cosmos. Across such a spectrum, a profusion of worlds where life and mind naturally evolve and flourish as so many seeds or eggs indeed implies a creative organic universe.

Seager, Sara. Alien Earths from A to Z. Sky & Telescope. January, 2008. The active search for extrasolar planets by novel instruments which can detect and characterize by their transit across the face of the star they orbit, which this MIT professor of planetary science participates in, has now recorded over 250 and counting (late 2010 some 500). They come in all sizes and kinds such as all iron, silicate-rich, carbon-rich, pure water, carbon monoxide, or totally hydrogen. See Seager's update "The Hunt for Super Earths" in the October 2010 Sky & Telescope. To so reflect, out of an amniotic universe appears our conducive, ovular world, whereupon matter vivifies into a collectivity of intelligent creatures able to scan from whence they came, ask why for, and maybe bear forth a cosmic child.

Planet formation appears to be a random, chaotic very diverse process with all sorts of outcomes depending on all sorts of initial flukes. The overall process seems to be a standard byproduct of star formation – and there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy. With the planetary dice being thrown so many times, countless types of worlds imagined and unimagined must be out there. (25)

Seager, Sara, et al. Toward a List of Molecules as Potential Biosignature Gases for the Search for Life on Exoplanets and Applications to Terrestrial Biochemistry. Astrobiology. 16/6, 2016. As a sign of the rapid progress being made by an instant global community, MIT scientists now move on from detecting exoworld atmospheres (the very idea that we Earthlings can do this all is incredible and auspicious) to assessments by virtue of organic traces whether it harbors organic life. As a guideline, a long inventory of our own Gaian biochemical components is listed. For another aspect, see Chemical Complementarity between the Gas Phase of the Interstellar Medium and the Rocky Material of Our Planetary System by Haiyang Wang and Charles Lineweaver at arXiv:1605.05503.

Thousands of exoplanets are known to orbit nearby stars. Plans for the next generation of space-based and ground-based telescopes are fueling the anticipation that a precious few habitable planets can be identified in the coming decade. Even more highly anticipated is the chance to find signs of life on these habitable planets by way of biosignature gases. But which gases should we search for? Although a few biosignature gases are prominent in Earth's atmospheric spectrum (O2, CH4, N2O), others have been considered as being produced at or able to accumulate to higher levels on exo-Earths (e.g., dimethyl sulfide and CH3Cl). Life on Earth produces thousands of different gases (although most in very small quantities). Some might be produced and/or accumulate in an exo-Earth atmosphere to high levels, depending on the exo-Earth ecology and surface and atmospheric chemistry.

To maximize our chances of recognizing biosignature gases, we promote the concept that all stable and potentially volatile molecules should initially be considered as viable biosignature gases. We present a new approach to the subject of biosignature gases by systematically constructing lists of volatile molecules in different categories. An exhaustive list up to six non-H atoms is presented, totaling about 14,000 molecules. About 2500 of these are CNOPSH compounds. An approach for extending the list to larger molecules is described. We further show that about one-fourth of CNOPSH molecules (again, up to N = 6 non-H atoms) are known to be produced by life on Earth. The list can be used to study classes of chemicals that might be potential biosignature gases, considering their accumulation and possible false positives on exoplanets with atmospheres and surface environments different from Earth's. The list can also be used for terrestrial biochemistry applications, some examples of which are provided. We provide an online community usage database to serve as a registry for volatile molecules including biogenic compounds. (Abstract)

Sephton, Mark. Organic Matter in Ancient Meteorites. Astronomy & Geophysics. 45/2, 2004. These nutrient fragments serve as cosmic time capsules which reveal early chemical steps toward life. They contain biological molecules of extraterrestrial origin that help fill in the course of complexifying animate matter.

Smith, Ian. Reactions at Very Low Temperatures. Angewandte Chimie. 45/18, 2006. A survey of the latest research in astrochemistry – the search for complex molecules in the interstellar reaches – which has now found over 135 biochemical precursors.

Smith, Ian, et al, eds. Astrochemistry and Astrobiology. Berlin: Springer, 2013. With coeditors Charles Cockell and Sydney Leach, an initial volume in a “Physical Chemistry in Action” series. A stellar cast of active scientists proceed to root and connect living beings ever more deeply in and continuous with an increasingly conducive, animate matter. Chapters run from “The Molecular Universe” by Maryvonne Gerin, “Planetary Atmospheres and Chemical Markers for Extraterrestrial Life,” Lisa Kaltenegger, onto “Life, Metabolism and Energy,” Robert Pascal and “The Physical Underpinnings of Replication” by Rebecca Turk-MacLeod, Ulrich Gerland, and Irene Chen. For effect, we join this volume with a concurrent December 2012 issue of Accounts of Chemical Research on “Origins of Chemical Evolution.” In our midst, so far unbeknownst, an innately fertile genesis universe is becoming revealed as a credible discovery, indeed a cosmic Copernican revolution.

The origin of life was a special point in our history when the principles of physics and chemistry first blossomed into the complex interactions that characterize living organisms. Biological phenomena, like replication, can be thought of as emerging from deeper microscopic structural and dynamic properties, in the same way that the physical phenomenon of friction emerges from microscopic interactions among materials. Although living organisms today are often so sophisticated that it can be difficult to see the roots of physical chemistry in their everyday operation, the very first organisms and transitional form would have been quite close to those roots. (Turk-MacLeod, 271)

Snyder, Lewis. Interferometric Observations of Large Biologically Interesting Interstellar and Cometary Molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 103/12243, 2006. An example of our collaborative ability to explore and find an organic universe with a natural propensity to form precursors of complex, evolving life. The paper by William Klemperer, Interstellar Chemistry, in the same issue is also notable.

Interferometric observations of high-mass regions in interstellar molecular clouds have revealed hot molecular cores that have substantial column densities of large, partly hydrogen-saturated molecules. Many of these molecules are of interest to biology and thus are labeled “biomolecules.” Because the clouds containing these molecules provide the material for star formation, they may provide insight into presolar nebular chemistry, and the biomolecules may provide information about the potential for the associated interstellar chemistry for seeding newly formed planets with prebiotic organic chemistry. (12243)

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