Cradle of Life: From the Formation of Stars to Habitable Worlds with the SKAO

This chapter provides an overview of the different science cases covered by the "Cradle of Life" working group, which aims to leverage the capabilities of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) to trace the physical and chemical pathways toward stars and planets formation, how such stars impact their planets, and whether life could exist in such conditions. At its highest frequencies, the SKAO will probe the earliest stages of the raw material fuelling planet formation, while enabling deep, unprecedented searches for prebiotic molecules both in high-mass and solar-type protostars. Concurrently, the lowest frequencies will be deployed to detect and characterize exoplanetary magnetic fields via their auroral radio emission, and the type of space weather a planet experiences from its host star. Across the entire frequency range, the SKA telescopes will conduct systematic searches of technosignatures. Together, these high-impact research areas establish a comprehensive roadmap for the SKAO to uncover the origins of life in the universe.