Space Weather & Heliophysics

The Propitious Role of Solar Energetic Particles in the Origin of Life

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
astro-ph.EP
January 18, 2018
Filed under
The Propitious Role of Solar Energetic Particles in the Origin of Life

We carry out 3-D numerical simulations to assess the penetration and bombardment effects of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs), i.e. high-energy particle bursts during large flares and superflares, on ancient and current Mars.

We carry out 3-D numerical simulations to assess the penetration and bombardment effects of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs), i.e. high-energy particle bursts during large flares and superflares, on ancient and current Mars.

We demonstrate that the deposition of SEPs is non-uniform at the planetary surface, and that the corresponding energy flux is lower than other sources postulated to have influenced the origin of life. Nevertheless, SEPs may have been capable of facilitating the synthesis of a wide range of vital organic molecules (e.g. nucleobases and amino acids). Owing to the relatively high efficiency of these pathways, the overall yields might be comparable to (or even exceed) the values predicted for some conventional sources such as electrical discharges and exogenous delivery by meteorites. We also suggest that SEPs could have played a role in enabling the initiation of lightning.

A notable corollary of our work is that SEPs may constitute an important mechanism for prebiotic synthesis on exoplanets around M-dwarfs, thereby mitigating the deficiency of biologically active ultraviolet radiation on these planets. Although there are several uncertainties associated with (exo)planetary environments and prebiotic chemical pathways, our study illustrates that SEPs represent a potentially important factor in understanding the origin of life.

Manasvi Lingam, Chuanfei Dong, Xiaohua Fang, Bruce M. Jakosky, Abraham Loeb
(Submitted on 17 Jan 2018)

Comments: published in The Astrophysical Journal; 14 pages; 2 figures
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph); Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
Journal reference: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 853, 10 (2018)
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9fef
Cite as: arXiv:1801.05781 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1801.05781v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Manasvi Lingam
[v1] Wed, 17 Jan 2018 18:10:16 GMT (184kb)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.05781
Astrobiology

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻