Meteoroids
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Recent papers in Meteoroids
The importance of comets for the origin of life on Earth has been advocated for many decades. Amino acids are key ingredients in chemistry, leading to life as we know it. Many primitive meteorites contain amino acids, and it is generally... more
Presentazione delle caratteristiche principali del sistema solare con l'aggiunta di altri argomenti di interesse.
The first systems of molecules having the properties of the living state presumably self-assembled from a mixture of organic compounds available on the prebiotic Earth. To carry out the polymer synthesis characteristic of all forms of... more
The terrestrial and lunar cratering rate is often assumed to have been nearly constant over the past 3 Gyr. Different lines of evidence, however, suggest that the impact flux from kilometre-sized bodies increased by at least a factor of... more
Recent research has discovered that complex organic matter is prevalent throughout the Universe. In the Solar System, it is found in meteorites, comets, interplanetary dust particles, and planetary satellites. Spectroscopic signatures of... more
Microstructural, δ(13)C isotope and C/N ratio investigations were conducted on excavated material from the black Younger Dryas boundary in Lommel, Belgium, aiming for a characterisation of the carbon content and structures. Cubic diamond... more
A series of shock experiments were conducted to assess the feasibility of the delivery of organic compounds to the Earth via cometary impacts. Aqueous solutions containing near-saturation levels of amino acids (lysine, norvaline,... more
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, ideas related to the possible origin in space of bioorganic molecules, or seeds, or even germs and organisms (and how they reached the Earth) included the Panspermia theory. Based on the idea of... more
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, ideas related to the possible origin in space of bioorganic molecules, or seeds, or even germs and organisms (and how they reached the Earth) included the Panspermia theory. Based on the idea of... more
Significance We present detailed geochemical and morphological analyses of nearly 700 spherules from 18 sites in support of a major cosmic impact at the onset of the Younger Dryas episode (12.8 ka). The impact distributed ∼10 million... more
Two-step laser desorption/laser ionization mass spectrometry (μL2MS) was used to establish the nature and mass distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fragments of fifteen ‘giant’ (∼200 μm) carbonaceous Antarctic... more
Abstract— Examination of fracture surfaces near the fusion crust of the martian meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 have been conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) and has revealed structures... more
The Chicxulub impact crater in northwestern Yucatan, Mexico is the primary candidate for the proposed impact that caused mass extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The crater is buried by up to a kilometer of Tertiary sediment... more
Comets have been suggested as a possibly significant source of organic molecules to the early Earth. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is important in models of prebiotic chemistry, but may be difficult to form in the early terrestrial environment,... more
We present an experimental approach to the study of the chirality of three CM2 meteorite solid samples by direct measurement of the optical activity (circular birefringence; CB). The measurements are based on transmission two modulator... more
Morphologically diverse structures that may constitute organic microfossils are reported from three remote and widely separated localities assigned to the ca. 3400 Ma Strelley Pool Formation in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. These... more
Microbial life in the harsh conditions of Antarctica's cold desert may be considered an analogue of potential life on early Mars. In order to explore the development and survival of this epilithic and endolithic form of microbial life,... more
The composition of ices in comets may reflect that of the molecular cloud in which the Sun formed, or it may show evidence of chemical processing in the pre-planetary accretion disk around the proto-Sun. As carbon monoxide (CO) is... more
Biopolymers like DNA and proteins are strongly selective towards the chirality of their monomer units. The use of homochiral monomers is regarded as essential for the construction and function of biopolymers; the emergence of the... more
Meteoritic chondrules are submillimeter spherules representing the major constituent of nondifferentiated planetesimals formed in the solar protoplanetary disk. The link between the dynamics of the disk and the origin of chondrules... more