"Extraterrestrial life or alien life is life which does not originate from Earth."
It is the study of the history of life on planets, moons, and asteroids based on the fossils available on these celestial bodies.
Planetary Formation & Evolution: Understanding the processes that govern the formation and evolution of planets, including the role of gravity, chemical processes, and other factors that shape planetary development.
Mineralogy and Petrology: Describing the composition and characteristics of rocks, minerals, and meteorites (including their formation, metamorphism, and weathering).
Stratigraphy: Study of how rock layers (strata) are deposited and distributed across different planetary surfaces, as well as the age and history of those strata.
Geomorphology: The study of planetary surface features, including landforms, topography, and erosion and deposition processes that shape the surfaces we see today.
Astrobiology: The study of life and its potential for existence in the universe, including the search for life beyond Earth.
Remote Sensing: Use of data gathered from orbiting spacecraft and other remote sensing instruments to study the geology and morphology of planetary surfaces.
Impact Cratering: The study of how impacts from asteroids, comets, and other celestial objects have shaped the surfaces of many planets and moons.
Volcanology: Study of volcanic processes on planetary bodies, including the nature of volcanic eruptions, lava flows, and volcanic landscapes.
Tectonics: The study of deformation, movement, and other changes in planetary crusts over geological time, including the formation of mountains, faults, and other features.
Paleontology: The study of fossilized organisms and their ecology, geography, and the timing of their evolution, which can provide insight into the early history of planetary bodies.
Exogeology: This is the study of the geology of all non-Earth planetary bodies such as other planets, moons, asteroids and comets.
Planetary Geology: This area of study is focused on the geology of planets and their moons. It includes the study of planetary surfaces, interior structures, and the geologic processes that shape them.
Lunar Geology: This field of study focuses on the geology of the moon. It includes the study of lunar rocks, craters, volcanoes, and other features.
Martian Geology: This focuses on the geology of Mars and includes the study of its surface features, landforms, and geological history.
Asteroid Geology: This study focuses on the geology of asteroids, which can help us better understand the formation and evolution of our solar system.
Comet Geology: This area of study is focused on the geology of comets and includes the study of their surfaces, interiors, and the processes that shape them.
Planetary Tectonics: This is the study of the movement and deformation of planetary crusts and the forces behind them.
Planetary Geomorphology: This study is focused on the study of the shapes and forms of landforms on planetary bodies and the processes that formed them.
Paleobiology of Planetary Bodies: This is the study of prehistoric life forms that may have existed on other planetary bodies in the past.
Geochemistry of Planetary Bodies: This area of study is focused on the chemical and mineralogical composition of planetary bodies and the processes that formed them.
Geo-astrobiology: This area of study is focused on the search for life on other planetary bodies and the study of the conditions necessary for life to exist on other worlds.
Comparative Planetary Geology: This involves the comparison of different planetary bodies to better understand the similarities and differences between them.
"No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected."
"Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings."
"The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe."
"The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology."
"Speculation about the possibility of inhabited worlds beyond Earth dates back to antiquity."
"Early Christian writers discussed the idea of a 'plurality of worlds' as proposed by earlier thinkers."
"Lucretius predicted that humanity would find innumerable exoplanets with life-forms similar to, and different from, the ones on Earth, and even other races of man."
"William Vorilong acknowledged the possibility that Jesus could have visited extraterrestrial worlds to redeem their inhabitants."
"He theorized all extraterrestrial bodies could be inhabited by men, plants, and animals, including the Sun."
"Descartes wrote that there was no means to prove that the stars were not inhabited by 'intelligent creatures.'"
"Since the mid-20th century, active research has taken place to look for signs of extraterrestrial life."
"Methods range from the analysis of telescope and specimen data to radios used to detect and transmit communications."
"The concept of extraterrestrial life, and particularly extraterrestrial intelligence, has had a major cultural impact, especially extraterrestrials in fiction."
"Science fiction has communicated scientific ideas, imagined a wide range of possibilities, and influenced public interest in and perspectives on extraterrestrial life."
"One shared space is the debate over the wisdom of attempting communication with extraterrestrial intelligence."
"Some encourage aggressive methods to try to contact intelligent extraterrestrial life."
"Others – citing the tendency of technologically advanced human societies to enslave or destroy less advanced societies – argue it may be dangerous to actively draw attention to Earth."
"Encompassing searches for current and historic extraterrestrial life."
"A narrower search for extraterrestrial intelligent life."