Scientists haven't yet figured out whether life is capable of surviving the extreme conditions found in space and spreading to other stars -- a controversial theory known as panspermia .

However, astrophysicists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics believe that if panspermia is possible, life would spread out in a characteristic pattern.

Henry Lin, the lead author of new research that has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters , compared the phenomenon to the outbreak of an epidemic.

If theres a virus, you have a good idea that one of your neighbors will have a virus too," he told Smithsonian Magazine . "If the Earth is seeding life, or vice versa, theres a good chance immediate neighbors will also have signs of life.