Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2003-08-18
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Accepted by 'Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere'. 29 pages, 10 figures
Scientific paper
Ultraviolet circularly polarised light has been suggested as the initial cause of the homochirality of organic molecules in terrestrial organisms, via enantiomeric selection of prebiotic molecules by asymmetric photolysis. We present a theoretical investigation of mechanisms by which ultraviolet circular polarisation may be produced in star formation regions. In the scenarios considered here, light scattering produces only a small percentage of net circular polarisation at any point in space, due to the forward throwing nature of the phase function in the ultraviolet. By contrast, dichroic extinction can produce a fairly high percentage of net circular polarisation (~10%) and may therefore play a key role in producing an enantiomeric excess.
Bailey Jeremy
Chrysostomou Antonio
Gledhill Tim M.
Hough James H.
Lucas Philip W.
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