Ana Gomez de Castro (Мадридский Университет, группа WSO-UV)

"Is life an unavoidable consequence of the formation of the Universe? Investigating the formation of bio-precursors and the signature of Earth-like living forms"

Understanding the origin of life is the main scientific challenge to this century and an interdisciplinary endeavor in itself. To that astronomy will contribute in three key issues. Firstly, by measuring the abundance of elements relevant to life in the Universe. Then by determining the preferred location for aminoacids and complex organic molecules assembly. Finally, by investigating the signatures of life in exoplanets. A new generation of facilities will need to be built to address these questions. The relevance of ultraviolet instrumentation for this purpose is addressed in this talk.