Murchison meteorite Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Astrobiology

Citric Acid Cycle - Wikipedia

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report

Astrochemistry: Abiotic Origin Of Citric Acid Cycle Intermediates

by Keith CowingJuly 8, 2025September 18, 2025

The molecular framework for protometabolism-chemical reactions in a prebiotic environment preceding modern metabolism-has remained unknown in evolutionary biology.

Photo of Nebula NGC 1333. The James Webb telescope detected interstellar ice there, which could be the origin of stars and planets. The study shows that this ice was apparently also behind the formation of organic molecules, including all intermediaries in the Krebs cycle. Credit © ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Scholz, K. Muzic, A. Langeveld, R. Jayawardhana Larger image

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Status Report

Abiotic Origin Of Citric Acid Cycle Intermediates

by Keith CowingApril 22, 2025

The molecular framework for protometabolism—chemical reactions in a prebiotic environment preceding modern metabolism—has remained unknown in evolutionary biology. Mono-, di-, and tricarboxylic acids that comprise contemporary metabolism, such as the […]

A mosaic image of asteroid Bennu, composed of 12 PolyCam images collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 24 kilometers. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Life’s Building Blocks Discovered In Samples From Asteroid Bennu

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2025September 18, 2025

Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.

Dielectric constant of water shown via color contours as a function of pressure and temperature. Conditions for the experiments are shown as stars, and the supercritical point is shown as a circle. The black dashed line indicates the pressure of Titan’s water-rock interface (Sotin et al., 2021). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Experimental Heating of Complex Organic Matter at Titan’s Interior Conditions Supports Contributions to Atmospheric N2 and CH4

by Keith CowingDecember 19, 2024December 19, 2024

Titan’s abundant atmospheric N2 and CH4 gases are notable characteristics of the moon that may help constrain its origins and evolution. Previous work suggests that atmospheric CH4 is lost on […]

The surface of asteroid Ryugu

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Organic Compounds In Asteroids Are Formed In Colder Regions Of Space

by Keith CowingDecember 22, 2023December 22, 2023

Analysis of organic compounds – called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – extracted from the Ryugu asteroid and Murchison meteorite has found that certain PAHs likely formed in the cold areas […]

B3LYP-D3(BJ) optimised structures for the reactant (left), transition state (centre), and product (right) of the HNCO + NH3 NH + 4 OCN– reaction mediated by one (top) and two (bottom) water molecules. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Synthesis Of Urea On The Surface Of Interstellar Water Ice Clusters. A Quantum Chemical Study

by Keith CowingDecember 19, 2023December 19, 2023

Urea is a prebiotic molecule that has been detected in few sources of the interstellar medium (ISM) and in Murchison meteorite. Being stable against ultraviolet radiation and high-energy electron bombardment, […]

Experimentally measured outgassing composition of a 3 mg powdered Murchison sample from 200 °C–1200 ◦ C under a high-vacuum environment (∼10−4 Pa at lower temperatures and ∼10−3 Pa at higher temperatures; lower panel) compared with the outgassing trends of S and Zn under the same vacuum conditions from this study (upper panel). In the lower panel, the outgassing composition is shown as mole fractions of different outgassed species on a log scale as a function of temperature. The outgassing composition of Murchison was determined using a residual gas analyzer mass spectrometer that monitored the abundances (i.e., mole fractions) of the highly volatile outgassing species H2O, H2, CO, CO2, and H2S (see Thompson et al. 2021 for further details). Each species is labeled, and its mass number (in amu) is in parentheses. The dashed curves show equilibrium model-adjusted experimental outgassing compositions, which are the result of taking Thompson et al.’s (2021) experimental elemental outgassing results at intervals of 50 ◦ C and inputting those into the chemical equilibrium model of Figure 5 (see Schaefer & Fegley 2007, 2010 for details on the model) to recompute how the gas composition would speciate under equilibrium conditions. The upper panel shows the S and Zn outgassing trends from this study, expressed as these elements’ intensities, normalized to V and the average of the two unheated Murchison samples, for the residues heated under vacuum. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Outgassing Composition of the Murchison Meteorite: Implications for Volatile Depletion of Planetesimals and Interior-atmosphere Connections for Terrestrial Exoplanets

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Outgassing is a central process during the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets and their atmospheres both within and beyond the solar system.

Orgueil meteorite fall, France, 1864

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Press Release

New Analysis of Meteorite Shows Key Ingredients for Life on Earth May Have Been Delivered by Comets

by Keith CowingFebruary 27, 2001June 23, 2024

An object that fell to Earth more than 136 years ago has revealed new clues about the origin of meteorites in space and new information about how life may have […]

This is an artist's concept depicting the presence of buckyballs in space. Buckyballs, which consist of 60 carbon atoms arranged like soccer balls, have been detected in space before by scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The new result is the first time an electrically charged (ionized) version has been found in the interstellar medium. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Researchers Discover Extraterrestrial Gases in Buckyballs

by Keith CowingMarch 20, 2000June 13, 2024

Extraterrestrial gases, including helium, are trapped in “buckyball” molecules in a layer of sedimentary clay found in many places on Earth, according to a paper to be published March 28, […]