Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jul 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004assl..305..179c&link_type=abstract
Astrobiology: Future Perspectives, p.179. by Ehrenfreund et al., Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIE
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
2
Scientific paper
By delivering prebiotic molecules to the Earth, comets could have played a role in the early phases of the development of life on our planet,. In order to explore this possibility w present here an assessment of the molecular contents of comets. The current methods of investigation - by both insitu analysis and remote sensing - are reviewed. The present status of our knowledge of the composition of cometary ices is reviewed. We probably now know most of the main components, but we still have a very partial view of the minor ones. A large diversity of composition from comet to comet is observed, so that no "typical comet" can be defined. No clear correlation between the composition and the region of formation of the comets and their subsequent dynamical history can yet be established. A crucial cometary component, both for cometary coma chemistry and for the possible delivery of organics to the Earth, is the (semi-)refractory high molecular-mass organic material present in grains. From the advent of new instrumentation, we can expect the detection of many new molecular species in future bright comets. However, the identification of really complex molecules will need in situ analysis or the return to Earth of nucleus samples.
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