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Extraterrestrial Delivery of Organic Compounds

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

Definition

The primitive Earth experienced a large spectrum of impactors ranging from the huge Mars-sized impactor which created the Moon to cosmic dust less than 1 μm in size. A great number of organic molecules, including amino acids, have been found in carbonaceous chondrites. Micrometeorite collection and analysis from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets suggest that the Earth accreted large amounts of extraterrestrial complex organic molecules. Intense bombardment probably caused some chemical reprocessing of the Earth’s primitive atmosphere. Laboratory and space experiments support plausibility of the extraterrestrial delivery of organics to the primitive Earth.

Overview

Delivery of Extraterrestrial Organic Matter

Comets

Comets are the richest planetary objects in organic compounds known so far. Ground-based observations have detected hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde in the coma of comets. In 1986, on board analyses performed by the two Russian missions Vega 1 and 2, as well...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire CNRS, Orléans, France

    André Brack

Authors
  1. André Brack
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Correspondence to André Brack .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  2. Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    William M. Irvine

  3. Centro Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  4. Analytical, Environmental, Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium

    Philippe Claeys

  5. Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Henderson James Cleaves

  6. Radio Astronomy, Paris Observatory, Paris, France

    Maryvonne Gerin

  7. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris-Site de Meudon, Meudon, France

    Daniel Rouan

  8. International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland

    Tilman Spohn

  9. Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques de Nantes, Centre François Viète d’Histoire des Sciences et de Techniques EA 1161, Nantes, France

    Stéphane Tirard

  10. Innovaxiom, Paris, CX, France

    Michel Viso

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Brack, A. (2023). Extraterrestrial Delivery of Organic Compounds. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65093-6_565

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