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Amino acid formation on interstellar dust particles
Meierhenrich U.J., Muñoz Caro G.M., Barbier B., Brack A., Thiemann W.H.-P., Goesmann F., Rosenbauer H.
Abstract
In the dense interstellar medium dust particles accrete ice layers of known
molecular composition. In the diffuse interstellar medium these ice layers
are subjected to energetic UV-irradiation. Here, photoreactions form complex
organic molecules. The interstellar processes were recently successfully
simulated in two laboratories. At NASA Ames Research Center three amino acids
were detected in interstellar ice analogues [1], contemporaneously, our European
team reported on the identification of 16 amino acids therein [2]. Amino
acids are the molecular building blocks of proteins in living organisms.
The identification of amino acids on the simulated icy surface of interstellar
dust particles strongly supports the assumption that the precursor molecules
of life were delivered from interstellar and interplanetary space via (micro-)
meteorites and/or comets to the earyl Earth. The results shall be verified
by the COSAC
experiment onboard the ESA cometary mission Rosetta [3].
Geophysical research abstract 5 (2003), 5100.
Last updated January 2004