Organic photohemistry in the atmosphere of jupiter and saturn

Guillemin, Jean‐Claude; Serre, S. Le; Legoupy, Stéphanie

doi:10.1007/bf02459908

Cited by 1 publication

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“…That a fluid medium is necessary for harboring life is the most speculative of the proposed criteria, as the possibility that life could exist in dense atmospheres has also been suggested (Sagan and Salpeter, 1976). There is, for example, experimental and observational evidence for organic synthesis in Jupiter's atmosphere (Sagan et al, 1967;Raulin and Bossard, 1985;Guillemin, 2000). However, it is difficult to envision how the boundary conditions necessary for compartmentalizing the flow of energy and restricting the population of interacting molecules could be established under such conditions.…”

Section: Requirements For Lifementioning

confidence: 94%

Assessing the Plausibility of Life on Other Worlds

Irwin

Schulze‐Makuch²

2001

Astrobiology

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As the field of astrobiology matures and search strategies for life on other worlds are developed, the need to analyze in a systematic way the plausibility for life on other planetary systems becomes increasingly apparent. We propose the adoption of a simple plausibility of life (POL) rating system based on specific criteria. Category I applies to any body shown to have conditions essentially equivalent to those on Earth. Category II applies to bodies for which there is evidence of liquid water and sources of energy and where organic compounds have been detected or can reasonably be inferred (Mars, Europa). Category III applies to worlds where conditions are physically extreme but possibly capable of supporting exotic forms of life unknown on Earth (Titan, Triton). Category IV applies to bodies that could have seen the origin of life prior to the development of conditions so harsh as to make its perseverance at present unlikely but conceivable in isolated habitats (Venus, Io). Category V would be reserved for sites where conditions are so unfavorable for life by any reasonable definition that its origin or persistence there cannot be rated a realistic probability (the Sun, gas giant planets). The proposed system is intended to be generic. It assumes that life is based on polymeric chemistry occurring in a liquid medium with uptake and degradation of energy from the environment. Without any additional specific assumptions about the nature of life, the POL system is universally applicable.

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