Three Badass Subfields Of Astronomy: Astrobiology, Astrochemistry, And Astrophysics

Three Badass Subfields of Astronomy: Astrobiology, Astrochemistry, and Astrophysics

I’ve been receiving a lot of messages from people curious to know the differences between these subfields of astronomy. So, I’ve written a post giving a simple definition and a brief description of what’s involved in each.

Astrobiology (also known as exobiology) is the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life here on Earth and—more importantly—the entire universe. Using existing origin theories and models, this relatively new branch of astronomy is primarily focused on analyzing and discovering the amazing possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Astrobiologists face some distinct problems in their work. Many planets are completely unsustainable to life as we know it. Scorching or freezing temperatures, seemingly gentle rain that would actually burn the skin off of your body, or hurricanes the size of Earth itself are quite common planetary conditions in the universe. Astrobiologists attempt to simulate the possibilities of life cropping up in these unlikely conditions. Whether or not a life form can survive in these types of environments will reveal just how diverse and adaptive it is. Despite nature seeming like an sadistic asshole, there is striking evidence for the resilience of life. Astrobiologists have outlined four requirements for life to survive:

A liquid solvent in which molecules can move freely and interact. 

An energy source.

An atom which allows complex structures to exist.

A sh*t load of time.

Considering that certain life forms here on earth have defied some of these requirements, it’s logical to presume that there is indeed extraterrestrial life. The fact that the conditions can literally be terrible and life can still survive, is enough to convince me there are almost certainly other forms of life in the universe.  

Additionally, if we do find evidence of other life forms in the universe, they will probably look almost nothing like little green men with large heads and telepathic abilities (although, that would be awesome). In fact, astrobiologists hypothesize that extraterrestrial life will most likely be far more exotic and diverse than anything we can possibly imagine. Nature has certainly shown that it has one hell of an imagination.

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