Biology
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21421202m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #212.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.717
Biology
Scientific paper
More than 140 gas-phase molecules, including inorganics, organics, ions, and radicals, have been detected in the interstellar (IS) medium and in circumstellar environments. The significant abundance of large, complex organic molecules and families of isomers in these regions makes their origin and formation history the subject of great interest. Observed condensed-phase species are H2O, CO, CO2, OCN-, with NH3, CH3OH, HCOO-, HCOOH, OCS, CH4, H2CO, and NH4+ present, or suspected, at lower levels. These ices undergo energetic processing with cosmic rays and far-UV photons to form larger complex organics with abundance levels that make them spectroscopically undetectable in icy grain mantles. Once warmed, however, it is likely that these complex molecules enter the gas-phase where they might be detected by Herschel or Alma. Understanding the role of radiation-chemical and thermal processing of such ices, and identifying new reaction products, are the goals of our laboratory research.
In the Cosmic Ice Laboratory (http://www-691.gsfc.nasa.gov/cosmic.ice.lab/) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, we study both the photo- and radiation chemistries of ices from 8 - 300 K. Using near-, mid-, and far-IR spectroscopy, we can follow the destruction of reactant molecules and the formation of radicals and secondary products as a function of energetic processing. During the warming of ices we monitor the trapping of chemical species and the results of any thermal chemistry. An overview of our recent and past work will focus on complex secondary radiation products from small condensed-phase IS species. Likely reactions include dimerization, isomerization, H-addition, and H2-elimination. Another focus of our work is the development of reaction schemes for the formation of complex molecules and the use of such schemes to predict new molecules awaiting detection by Herschel and Alma. Funding through NASA's Planetary Atmospheres program and the Goddard Center for Astrobiology is acknowledged.
Hudson Reggie L.
Moore Marla H.
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