Читать книгу Planet Formation and Panspermia - Группа авторов - Страница 14

Amedeo Balbi

Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata” Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Roma, Italy

Abstract

After a long period of neglect, the hypothesis of interstellar panspermia has gained new consideration in recent years, due to a series of theoretical and observational developments. In this chapter, I briefly outline why this possibility should not be dismissed, especially in regions of the Galaxy with higher stellar density than average. Furthermore, I give some motivations for taking the mechanism into account when developing theoretical models of the distribution of life in the Galaxy (such as in studies of the galactic habitable zone) and in drawing implications from the results of future searches for biosignatures in exoplanets. This theoretical work should be complemented by experimental studies, in order to assess the concrete feasibility of panspermia with higher confidence.

Keywords: Astrobiology, extraterrestrial life, galactic habitabile zone, biosignatures, interstellar panspermia