Durden 1

Gavin Durden
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
Feb. 20 2015
Essential Question: What are the future instruments and science behind the study of
exobiology?
Working Thesis: The equipment can range from instruments going into/scanning space and the
science behind exobiology revolves around the study of possible life outside of Earth.
Refined Thesis: For the future of exobiology, the best instruments to use would be deep space
satellites which would relay information on planets ranging from the type of planet, the distance
from Earth, and what atmosphere the planet has to determine if life is a possibility on an
exoplanet.

Annotated Bibliography
Billings, Lee. "The Search For Life On Faraway Moons." Scientific American 310.1 (2014): 3843. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
This article was relevant to this project because not only does this document say that life could
be possible on exoplanets, but it also goes on to state that the moons orbiting these planets, so
called exomoons, might be the most common breeding ground for life in the universe. Further
reading brought about that, large moons could support liquid water which is essential for life
given that the temperature is warm enough through the use of tidal friction. These moons should
be visible with the use of a satellite named Keplar. This article is relevant to the research because
it not only explains the dire need for computers to remotely control and monitor the satellites, but

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it also has been said that further development of the telescope lenses on these satellites need to
be vastly improved over the years in order to detect and monitor the smaller types of moons
roughly the same size or a bit larger than our own moon.

Dorminey, Bruce. "A New Way To Search For Life In Space." Astronomy 42.6 (2014): 46.
MasterFILE Premier. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.
This article was relevant to this project because in this article it talks about how photosynthesis is
a vital part in life. Going further into detail it even states that some researchers are looking in the
atmosphere of planets to detect molecules such as oxygen and methane which is similar to Earth
and would possibly hold similar organisms which would have developed much like Earth-like
beings. With this information in mind the article goes on to say that researchers use aerial
surveys and satellites to detect signatures of photosynthesis emitted by an exoplanet that is
usually, or theoretically, molecular oxygen in the planets atmosphere. This article is relevant to
the research because having this as a possibility could mean that through the use of satellites and
detection technology is a great advancement in exobiology that can still be improved over the
years through new and innovative designs and refined techniques of searching and pinpointing
different kinds of Earth-like planets.

Shostak, Seth. "Astrobiology." Encyclopdia Britannica (2014): Research Starters. Web. 18

Feb. 2015.
This article is relevant to this project because it explains that, yet again, water is a necessity in
order for life to evolve and prosper, but under this principle of astrobiology the research can be
classified under three different areas which are learning the conditions where life can thrive,

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discovering prosper able worlds and searching for evidence of life. Usually these searches are
made to look for smaller, Earth-size worlds or moons that would house an Earth-like atmosphere
with similar properties of gravity to hold the atmosphere. This article is relevant to the research
because these states of research can be backed by the use of global mapping on other worlds. A
good example of global mapping is Mars in which they used the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft
which had mapped the locations and high areas of epithermal (intermediate-energy) neutrons.
Scientists have inferred that it located high presence of hydrogen suggesting that there are
reserves of ice below the Martian surface.