The analysis of biorelevant molecules in returned mission samples such as from the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu is key to unravelling the role of extraterrestrial organics in the evolution of […]
Carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites are fragments of planetesimals that hold clues about the early solar system’s organic matter. Amino acids are key to life on Earth; thus their study from […]
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 […]
Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
Highly unsaturated carbon chains, including polyynes, have been detected in many astronomical regions and planetary systems.
The Science Researchers at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) joined an international effort to study tiny fragments of a nearby asteroid. The APS, a Department of Energy Office of Science […]
Tiny grains from a distant asteroid are revealing clues to the magnetic forces that shaped the far reaches of the solar system over 4.6 billion years ago.
The discovery of a four-ring carbon molecule in a distant interstellar cloud may help to reveal how our own solar system formed.
The discovery of pyrene derivatives in a distant interstellar cloud may help to reveal how our own solar system formed.
Parent bodies of C-type asteroids may have brought key volatile and organic-rich compounds to the terrestrial planets in the early stages of the Solar System. At the end of 2020, […]
