Astrobiology (from Greek: ἀστρο, astro, "constellation"; βίος, bios, "life"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge") is the study of life in space, combining aspects of astronomy, biology and geology. It is focused primarily on the study of the origin, distribution and evolution of life. It is also known as exobiology (from Greek: έξω, exo, "outside"). The term "Xenobiology" has been used as well, but this is technically incorrect because its terminology means "biology of the foreigners".
Some major astrobiological research topics include: