Miller-Urey Synthesis in The Nuclei of Galaxies

The most promising venues for the synthesis of prebiotic molecules by Miller-Urey type processes may be found near the centres of galaxies. Explosions of supermassive stars would produce the basic chemical elements necessary to make molecules in high-density mass flows that are then acted upon by ionizing radiation, thus simulating the conditions needed for Miller-Urey type processing. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Interstellar Grains as Amino Acid Factories and the Origin of Life

Some two decades ago, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe (1976) proposed that the physical conditions inside dense molecular clouds favour the formation of amino acids and complex organic polymers. There now exists both astronomical and laboratory evidence supporting this idea. Recent millimeter array observations have discovered the amino acid glycine (NH₂CH₂COOH) in the gas phase of the dense star-forming cloud Sagittarius B2. These observations would pose serious problems for present-day theories of molecule formation in space because it is unlikely that glycline can form by the gas-phase reaction schemes normally considered for dense cloud chemistry. Several laboratory experiments suggest a new paradigm in which amino acids and other large organic molecules are chemically manufactured inside the bulk interior of icy grain mantles photoprocessed by direct and scattered ultraviolet starlight. Frequent chemical explosions of the processed mantles would eject large fragments of organic dust into the ambient cloud. Large dust fragments break up into smaller ones by sputtering and ultimately by photodissociation of individual molecules. Hence, a sizeable column density (N≈ 10¹⁰−10¹⁵ cm^-2) of amino acids would be present in the gaseous medium as a consequence of balancing the rate of supply from exploding mantles with the rate of molecule destruction. Exploding mantles can therefore solve the longstanding molecule desorption problem for interstellar dense cloud chemistry. A sizeable fraction of the organic dust population can survive destruction and seed primitive planetary systems throughout our galaxy with prebiological organic molecules needed for proteins and nucleic acids in living organisms. This possibility provides fresh grounds for a new version of the old panspermia hypothesis first introduced by Anaxagoras. It is shown that panspermia is more important than asteroid and cometary organic depositions onto primitive Earth. Furthermore, no appeal to Miller-Urey synthesis in a nonoxidizing atmosphere of primitive Earth is then needed to seed terrestrial life. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Amino acid survival in large cometary impacts

Abstract— A significant fraction of the Earth's prebiotic volatile inventory may have been delivered by asteroidal and cometary impacts during the period of heavy bombardment. The realization that comets are particularly rich in organic material seemed to strengthen this suggestion. Previous modeling studies, however, indicated that most organics would be entirely destroyed in large comet and asteroid impacts. The availability of new kinetic parameters for the thermal degradation of amino acids in the solid phase made it possible to readdress this question. We present the results of new high-resolution hydrocode simulations of asteroid and comet impact coupled with recent experimental data for amino acid pyrolysis in the solid phase. Differences due to impact velocity as well as projectile material have been investigated. Effects of angle of impacts were also addressed. The results suggest that some amino acids would survive the shock heating of large (kilometer-radius) cometary impacts. At the time of the origins of life on Earth, the steady-state oceanic concentration of certain amino acids (like aspartic and glutamic acid) delivered by comets could have equaled or substantially exceeded concentrations due to Miller-Urey synthesis in a CO₂-rich atmosphere. Furthermore, in the unlikely case of a grazing impact (impact angle ～5° from the horizontal), an amount of some amino acids comparable to that due to the background steady-state production or delivery would be delivered to the early Earth.     

Hydrocarbon molecules in carbon stars

It is shown that the 10–13 μ band observed in the spectra of some carbon stars could arise from simple hydrocarbon molecules, especially of the type C _n H _2n . These molecules could be present in circumstellar dust shells which are responsible for the 1000 K black-body excess observed for these stars, and the emission band is produced by collisional excitation.     

Carbon chain molecules in interstellar clouds

A survey of the distribution of long carbon chain molecules in interstellar clouds shows that their abundance is correlated. The various formation schemes for these molecules are discussed. We conclude that the ion-molecule type formation mechanisms are more promising than their competitors. They have also the advantage of allowing predictions which can be tested by observations. Acetylene C₂H₂ and diacetylene HCCCCH, may be very abundant in interstellar clouds.Invited contribution to the Proceedings of a Workshop onThermodynamics and Kinetics of Dust Formation in the Space Medium held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, 6–8 September, 1978.     

The volatile fraction of the cometary nucleus

In order to prepare a flyby mission to Comet Encke, six different sources of information on the possible chemical composition of the cometary nucleus are compared. These are: the neutral and charged radicals and molecules observed in cometary spectra; the chemical composition of type I carbonaceous chondrites; the meteor spectra; the metallic ions collected in the upper atmosphere and correlated with the meteor shower associated with Comet Encke; and finally the volatile molecules observed in a volatile-rich sample of lunar soil, that were interpreted as a possible cometary impact. Possible molecular abundances for the volatile fraction of Comet Encke are tentatively proposed.     

Momentum loss for antimatter meteors

The momentum loss for a possible antimatter meteor entrance can be described by the combination of two terms. One which can be characterized by the mechanism of annihilation and a second one, the well known mechanism, which is common for all koinomatter (ordinary) meteors. That is, the momentum loss caused by the air molecules swept up by the moving object. We discuss, in this paper, the contribution of the rocket effect caused by the action of the secondaries which can be produced by the annihilation interactions of the antiatoms with the air molecules. The momentum loss of an iron type meteor made of antimatter, as a function of its equivalent radius R, can be described by the formula, J (MeV/c) = 8R (cm), for values of R within the range 1 cm < R < 5 cm and can be resulted by a single annihilation interaction of a nucleon-antinucleon pair.     

Chemical abundances in cold, dark interstellar clouds

The Sun may well have formed in the type of interstellar cloud currently referred to as a cold, dark cloud. We present current tabulations of the totality of known interstellar molecules and of the subset which have been identified in cold clouds. Molecular abundances are given for two such clouds which show interesting chemical differences in spite of strong physical similarities, Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1) and Lynd's 134N (L134N, also referred to as L183). These regions may be at different evolutionary stages.     

CO clathrate hydrate: Near to mid-IR spectroscopic signatures

Carbon monoxide is the second most abundant molecule after H₂ in the molecular universe, and as such an abundant constituent of interstellar and Solar System ices. To trace the possibility of this molecule to be found in a clathrate hydrate inclusion compound, its pure phase FTIR spectrum is investigated. We confirm the formation of a type I clathrate structure whereas simple guest size estimates would favour a type II clathrate hydrate, revealing interactions of this molecule with its water network during clathrate formation. The observed cage vibrational downshift with respect to pure CO ice is within 5 cm⁻¹. The temperature dependent wavenumber separation between the two enclathrated CO vibrational transitions in the two distinct type I clathrate cages is less than a wavenumber below 140 K, implying that the spectral simplification for detailed spectroscopic analysis of the individual profiles is a difficult task. The dynamics of the CO molecules in its cage change considerably from 5 K to 140 K. At temperatures above 30 K, the molecule is extremely mobile in the cages, as revealed by the infrared profile, significantly different from CO entrapped in water ice and different from observed profiles in astrophysical objects.     

Hydrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the 2940 and 2850 wavenumber (3.40 and 3.51 micron) infrared emission features

The 3150-2700 cm-1 (3.17-3.70 microns) range of the spectra of a number of Ar-matrix-isolated PAHs containing excess H atoms (Hn-PAHs) are presented. This region covers features produced by aromatic and aliphatic C-H stretching vibrations as well as overtone and combination bands involving lower lying fundamentals. The aliphatic C-H stretches in molecules of this type having low to modest excess H coverage provide excellent fits to a number of the weak emission features superposed on the plateau between 3080 and 2700 cm-1 (3.25 and 3.7 microns) in the spectra of many planetary nebulae, reflection nebulae, and H II regions. Higher H coverage is implied for a few objects. We compare these results in context with the other suggested identifications of the emission features in the 2950-2700 cm-1 (3.39-3.70 microns) region and briefly discuss their astrophysical implications.     

Fundamental Problems in Astrophysics

Progress of modern astrophysics requires the access to the electromagnetic spectrum in the broadest energy range. The Ultraviolet is a fundamental energy domain since it is one of the most powerful tool to study plasmas at temperatures in the 3,000–300,000 K range as well as electronic transitions of the most abundant molecules in the Universe. Moreover, the UV radiation field is a powerful astrochemical and photoionizing agent.The objective of this review is to describe the crucial issues that require access to the UV range. A summary has been added to the end with a more classic view of UV needs by astronomical object type; this approach is followed at length in the rest of the contributions of this issue.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon lifetime in cometary environments

Observations of cometary comae in the infrared and in the near-ultraviolet suggest that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present in these environments. However, the chemical identity and abundance of these molecules are not clearly determined yet. Some species are probably more stable than others when submitted to the solar radiation field, and are therefore more likely to be observed. The photophysics of gas-phase PAHs in cometary environments is modelled. Photodissociation occurs when the heating by absorption of UV photons is more efficient than the radiative cooling. The lifetime of the molecules is found to depend on their size: small molecules being more stable than large ones. Furthermore, at 1 AU from the Sun, the lifetime of PAHs is found to be very short (20s for phenanthrene). This suggests that, if observed in the gas phase in cometary environments, these molecules should be produced by an extended source.     

Equilibrium temperatures of interstellar iron grains

Because of the relatively low number densities found in typical interstellar clouds, molecules observed there must be produced by a combination of both two-body gas-phase reactions and surface reactions. The latter type includes various catalytic reactions, such as the formation of H₂ on transition metal grains. These reactions are very temperature dependent, the grain temperature appearing in the exponential of the rate equations. Because of the small heat capacities of the grains due to their small sizes, they may be subject to considerable fluctuations in temperature. This problem is examined for iron grains and found to be minimal for sizes greater than 100 Å. Steady-state equilibrium temperatures are then calculated for a size distribution of iron particles ranging from 10³ to 10⁹ atoms per grain by a refined method of an earlier work by one of us (RGT). The results are that iron grain temperatures are significantly greater than those of dielectric grains of comparable size in the same radiation field.     

Hot cores: probes of high-redshift galaxies?

The very high rates of second generation star formation detected and inferred in high-redshift objects should be accompanied by intense millimetre-wave emission from hot core molecules. We calculate the molecular abundances likely to arise in hot cores associated with massive star formation at high redshift, using several different models of metallicity in the early Universe. If the number of hot cores exceeds that in the Milky Way Galaxy by a factor of at least 1000, then a wide range of molecules in high-redshift hot cores should have detectable emission. It should be possible to distinguish between different models for the production of metals and hence hot core molecules should be useful probes of star formation at high redshift.     

Why exobiology on Mars?

Processing of organic molecules by liquid water was probably an essential requirement towards the emergence of terrestrial primitive life. According to Oparin's hypothesis, organic building blocks required for early life were produced from simple organic molecules formed in a primitive reducing atmosphere. Geochemists favour now a less reducing atmosphere dominated by carbon dioxide. In such an atmosphere, very few building blocks are formed. Import of extraterrestrial organic molecules may represent an alternative supply. Experimental support for such an alternative scenario is examined in comets, meteorites and micrometeorites. The early histories of Mars and Earth clearly show similarities. Liquid water was once stable on the surface of Mars attesting the presence of an atmosphere capable of decelerating C-rich micro-meteorites. Therefore, primitive life may have developed on Mars, as well. Liquid water disappeared from the surface of Mars very early, about 3.8 Ga ago. The Viking missions did not find, at the surface of the Martian soil, any organic molecules or clear-cut evidence for microbial activities such as photosynthesis, respiration or nutrition. The results can be explained referring to an active photochemistry of Martian soil driven by the high influx of solar UV. These experiments do not exclude the existence of organic molecules and fossils of micro-organisms which developed on early Mars until liquid water disappeared. Mars may store below its surface some well preserved clues of a still hypothetical primitive life.     

Cosmogenic nitrogen isotopic disequilibrium observed in meteorites

Abstract— The isotopic disequilibrium of N molecules in meteorites was examined. For a large data-set, consisting of mass compositions of N molecules extracted at 1200 °C by stepped combustion of chondrites and eucrites, we find that a cosmogenic-N-enriched component and a normal air-like N component are isotopically disequilibrated with each other. The isotopic composition of the cosmogenic-N-enriched component seems to be variable, although the cause for the variation is not clear. The abundance of indigenous atomic N in silicate minerals seems to be small. Indigenous N in meteoritic silicates, if present, may be present in the form of N molecules.     

A propensity for n‐ω‐amino acids in thermally altered Antarctic meteorites

Abstract– Asteroids and their fragments have impacted the Earth for the last 4.5 Gyr. Carbonaceous meteorites are known to contain a wealth of indigenous organic molecules, including amino acids, which suggests that these meteorites could have been an important source of prebiotic organic material during the origins of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere. We report the detection of extraterrestrial amino acids in thermally altered type 3 CV and CO carbonaceous chondrites and ureilites recovered from Antarctica. The amino acid concentrations of the thirteen Antarctic meteorites ranged from 300 to 3200 parts‐per‐billion (ppb), generally much less abundant than in amino acid‐rich CI, CM, and CR carbonaceous chondrites that experienced much lower temperature aqueous alteration on their parent bodies. In contrast to low‐temperature aqueously altered meteorites that show complete structural diversity in amino acids formed predominantly by Strecker–cyanohydrin synthesis, the thermally altered meteorites studied here are dominated by small, straight‐chain, amine terminal (n‐ω‐amino) amino acids that are not consistent with Strecker formation. The carbon isotopic ratios of two extraterrestrial n‐ω‐amino acids measured in one of the CV chondrites (δ¹³C approximately ?25‰) are consistent with ¹³C‐depletions observed previously in hydrocarbons produced by Fischer‐Tropsch type reactions. The predominance of n‐ω‐amino acid isomers in thermally altered meteorites hints at cosmochemical mechanisms for the preferential formation and preservation of a small subset of the possible amino acids.     

Understanding the chemical complexity in Circumstellar Envelopes of C-Rich AGB stars: the case of IRC +10216

The circumstellar envelopes of carbon-rich AGB stars show a chemical complexity that is exemplified by the prototypical object IRC +10216, in which about 60 different molecules have been detected to date. Most of these species are carbon chains of the type C _n H, C _n H₂, C _n N, HC _n N. We present the detection of new species (CH₂CHCN, CH₂CN, H₂CS, CH₃CCH and C₃O) achieved thanks to the systematic observation of the full 3 mm window with the IRAM 30m telescope plus some ARO 12m observations. All these species, known to exist in the interstellar medium, are detected for the first time in a circumstellar envelope around an AGB star. These five molecules are most likely formed in the outer expanding envelope rather than in the stellar photosphere. A pure gas phase chemical model of the circumstellar envelope is reasonably successful in explaining the derived abundances, and additionally allows to elucidate the chemical formation routes and to predict the spatial distribution of the detected species.     

Interstellar molecules and the problem of laboratory data

The use of interstellar molecules as probes of physical conditions in interstellar clouds is hampered by the lack of basic laboratory data. The excitation of interstellar molecules is poorly understood because the nature of the interaction of molecules with radiation and with neutral particles is largely undknown. The mechanisms of formation and destruction of interstellar molecules are presently speculative, because little data exists in such areas as gas-phase ion-molecule reactions and exchange reactions, and reactions of various types on surfaces. Specific needs with regard to laboratory data are discussed in these and other areas. Operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

The RNA World and its origins

The theory of the "RNA World" states that the first molecular systems to display the properties of self-replication and evolution were RNA molecules. The origin of life not only depended crucially upon this event, but RNA molecules can even be viewed as the first "living" things. In recent years this theory has gained ascendancy over competing ideas and is now largely accepted by biologists as the most satisfactory explanation for the origin of life. The reasons for this development will be reviewed and the problem of the origin of the first RNA molecules will be discussed.