The outer solar system may provide a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life. Remote sensing data from the Galileo spacecraft suggest that the jovian icy moons, Europa, Ganymede, and possibly Callisto, […]
Astrochemistry
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
Amino Acids in Chondrites
Many theories about the origins of life involve the delivery of organic molecules to the early Earth by objects from space. Previously, scientists have identified amino acids in carbon-rich meteorites. […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Interstellar, Status Report
Prebiotic Glycerol in Interstallar Ice
Glycerol is a key building block of cell membranes, but scientists have not been able to explain its existence on early Earth. A study supported in part by the Exobiology & […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Chemistry in Protoplanetary Disks: Gas-phase CO/H2 Ratio and the Carbon Reservoir
The gas mass of protoplanetary disks, and the gas-to-dust ratio, are two key elements driving the evolution of these disks and the formation of planetary system. We explore here to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Meteoritic Abundances of Nucleobases and Potential Reaction Pathways
Carbonaceous chondrites are a class of meteorite known for having a high content of water and organics. In this study, abundances of the nucleobases, i.e., the building blocks of RNA […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release
Comet Wild 2: A Window Into the Birth of the Solar System?
Our solar system, and other planetary systems, started as a disk of microscopic dust, gas, and ice around the young Sun. The amazing diversity of objects in the solar system […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Water Was Plentiful in the Early Universe
Astronomers have long held that water — two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom — was a relative latecomer to the universe. They believed that any element heavier than helium […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Origin & Evolution of Life
A Hot Start to the Origin of Life?
DNA is synonymous with life, but where did it originate? One way to answer this question is to try to recreate the conditions that formed DNA’s molecular precursors. These precursors […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Complex Organic and Inorganic Compounds in Shells of Lithium-rich K Giant Stars
Hydrocarbon organic material, as found in the interstellar medium, exists in complex mixtures of aromatic and aliphatic forms. It is considered to be originated from carbon enriched giant stars during […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Water Could Have Been Abundant in the First Billion Years
How soon after the Big Bang could water have existed? Not right away, because water molecules contain oxygen and oxygen had to be formed in the first stars. Then that […]