Astrobiology Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for review.

Miller-Urey Experiment

Demonstrated that organic building blocks can form easily and naturally.

Deep-sea vents

A potential location for the origin of life on Earth.

Lipid pre cells

Structures that might have enclosed self-replicating RNA.

RNA self replication

Key process in the RNA world hypothesis.

Eukaryotes

Cells with nuclei.

Prokaryotes

Cells without a nucleus.

Domains

Classification of life based on chemical properties; Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya.

Carbohydrates

Major molecular component of cells.

Lipids

Major molecular component of cells.

Proteins

Major molecular component of cells.

Enzymes

Catalysts that speed up biochemical reactions.

Nucleic acids

DNA and RNA.

Amino acids

Building blocks of proteins.

Handedness (Chirality)

Life on Earth uses left-handed proteins and mostly right-handed carbohydrates.

Super-kingdoms

Classification based on chemical properties; Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya.

Tree of life

Illustrates common ancestry.

Panspermia

The hypothesis that life originated elsewhere and migrated to Earth.

Cosmic Address

Structure of the Solar system: Planets, moons, asteroids, comets.

Astronomical Unit (AU)

Average distance between Earth and Sun.

Lightyear

Distance light travels in one year.

Baryonic Matter

Made of three quarks.

Dark Matter

Does not interact with light.

Dark Energy

Believed to be the cause of the expansion of the universe.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

Remnants of the Big Bang.

Nuclear fusion

Lighter elements combine to form heavier nuclei.

SETI

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Geocentric Model

Earth-centered model of the universe.

Heliocentric Model

Sun-centered model of the universe.

Kepler’s Laws

Laws of planetary motion.

Galileo Galilei

Italian mathematician and astronomer.