So, Pan-spermia has gained support from comet Tempel 1. Evidence of organic molecules on Tempel 1 shows that it may have been possible for life here on good old Earth to have begun when a comet struck it! The organic molecules on the comet could have thrived on the third rock from the Sun and along came me and you!
Did life really begin in a big bang after all!!!!!!
What I don't understand is that if comets are suposed to conttain some of the earliest mater in the universe, how come carbon is there. Isn't this produced when an old star dies?
Comets don't contain the earliest matter in the universe, they contain the earliest matter in the solar system. Big difference. As the universe aged, various generations of stars created carbon (as you correctly pointed out). Our solar system, and everything in it, comes from gas that has been enriched by star formation, and includes things such as comets. As our solar system formed, various process destroyed and reformed the dust grains and other materials that were present in the early solar system. Comets, however, are supposed to be formed from materials that weren't processed during the solar system formation. So cometary matter contains the oldest matter in our solar system, but not the oldest matter in the universe.
