An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe (2019) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E: Glossary and Acronyms
Appendix E: Glossary and Acronyms
Pages 169-176
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From page 169... ...
accretion the process of accumulation of frozen water as precipitation over time as it descends (meteorological) through the atmosphere, the basis of cloud formation adaptive optics a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of incoming wavefront distortions by deforming a mirror in order to compensate for the distortion aeolian processes abrasion, erosion, transportation, and deposition by wind AI artificial intelligence ALH Allan Hills ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter Array APF Automated Planet Finder ARC Ames Research Center Archean the second geologic eon on Earth, occuring after the Hadean and lasting from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago ARIEL Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey ASTERIA Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics AU Astronomical unit, one Earth-Sun distance 169
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From page 170... ...
Planets may only be habitable during certain stages of their lifetime. Also known as punctuated habitability E-ELT European Extremely Large Telescope ELT Extremely Large Telescope enantiomer one of an isometric pair of crystalline forms or chemical compounds whose molecules are a nonsuperimposable mirror image of the other, like right and left hands ESA European Space Agency
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From page 171... ...
during a phase transition Ga Gigayear, one billion years GCM general circulation model GCMS gas chromatography-mass spectrometry geodynamics a subfield of geophysics dealing with forces, torques, and motions of Earth. It applies chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and other geologic phenomena geosphere the solid layers of a planet, including its core Gibbs free energy a measure of the maximum available work that can be derived from any system under conditions of constant temperature and pressure GMT Giant Magellan Telescope GOE Great Oxidation Event GPR ground-penetrating radar GPS global positioning system GSMT giant segmented mirror telescope HabEx Habitable Exoplanet Observatory Hadean the first geologic eon on Earth, lasting from the planet's formation 4.540 billion years ago to 4 billion years ago halophile an organism that thrives in salty environments HITE habitability index for transiting exoplanets homologation any chemical reaction that converts the reactant into the next member of the homologous series.
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From page 172... ...
172 AN ASTROBIOLOGY STRATEGY FOR THE SEARCH FOR LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE HST Hubble Space Telescope hydrogenation to treat with hydrogen; a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element ICSU International Council for Science in situ Latin for "in place," referring to an analysis where the phenomenon of study occurred, in contrast to a remote or a sample return analysis informational A polymer, containing more than one type of subunit, capable of encoding genetic heteropolymer information. InSight Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport irradiance See "Radiation flux;" also see "Spectral or Stellar Irradiance" ITER International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency jovian pertaining to the planet Jupiter, or similar in size to a gas giant JUICE Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer JWST James Webb Space Telescope Ka one thousand years KPF Keck Planet Finder LC-MS/MS liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry LDMS laser desorption-mass spectrometry LHS Luyten Half-Second catalog LIBS laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy lithology the study of rocks' physical characteristics and formation lithosphere the outermost shell of a rocky planet; on Earth, the lithosphere is the crust and the rela tively elastic portion of the upper mantle LUVOIR Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor Ma one million years machine learning a technique used in artificial intelligence computer science, in which programs are statis tically trained on known data and gain the ability to correctly analyze new data main sequence the stage of stellar evolution in which a star spends the majority of its lifetime, character ized by gradually increasing temperature until it becomes a red giant MALDI-TOF matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MarCO Mars Cube One MEPAG Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group metabolism a set of chemical reactions in a cell by which food is built up (anabolism)
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From page 173... ...
guanine, cytosine, adenine, and thymine that form the base pairs between the two polymers of a DNA double helix occultation an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer; contrast with a transit, when a smaller object passes in front of a larger one one-lid planet a type of tectonics thought to exist on Mars, in which a single stagnant crust sits atop the mantle, rather than the active plates on modern Earth OPAG Outer Planets Assessment Group OPP Office of Planetary Protection OSIRIS-REx Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer OST Origins Space Telescope
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From page 174... ...
radiolysis the breakdown of molecules as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation Raman spectroscopy a technique for determining the composition of a material by measuring the change in energy of laser light scattered off the sample rheology the branch of physics that deals with the deformation and flow of matter, especially the non-Newtonian flow of liquids and the plastic flow of solids RNA ribonucleic acid ROC receiver-operator characteristic RSL recurring slope lineae saltation from Latin saltus "jump," a type of particle transport occurring when loose materials are removed from a bed and carried by a fluid scarp a steep slope that occurs from erosion or faulting, leaving two relatively level areas of differing elevations Schreibersite a iron nickel phosphide mineral with an (Fe, Ni) 3P repeating unit.
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From page 175... ...
APPENDIX E 175 starlight suppression an astronomical technique which blocks the light from a star in order to see the much less luminous exoplanets orbiting it, related to the use of coronagraphs and starshades stellar type a classification of a star based on characteristics such as temperature, luminosity, compo sition, and size; ranges from the rare type O, the largest and hottest, to the common type M, far smaller stromatolites layered growth structures formed by the trapping, binding, and cementation of sedimen tary grains by microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria; stromatolites provide records of life on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago synchrotron radiation the electromagnetic radiation emitted when charged particles are accelerated radially; us able as a source for X-ray spectroscopy taphonomic the branch of paleontology that deals with the processes of fossilization technosignature a detectable sign of technologically advanced life TESS Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite TGO Trace Gas Orbiter TMT Thirty Meter Telescope TRAPPIST Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope uniformitarianism the foundational theory that changes in Earth's crust throughout geological history have resulted from the same continuous and uniform processes USB universal serial bus UV ultraviolet VLT Very Large Telescope WFIRST Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope WIYN Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO XUV X-ray ultraviolet
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