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A series of astronomical observations obtained over the period 1986 to 2018 supports the idea that life is a cosmic rather than a purely terrestrial or planetary phenomenon, these include the detection of biologically relevant molecules in interstellar clouds and comets, mid-infrared spectra of interstellar grains and the dust from comets, a diverse set of data from comets including the Rosetta mission showing consistency with biology and the frequency of Earth-like or habitable planets in the Galaxy.