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Thermal history, chemical composition and relationship of comets to the origin of lifeThe role of thermal processes in determining the chemical composition of comets is considered, and implications of possible cometary constituents for the origin and evolution of life on earth are discussed. It is shown that the inclusion of short-lived Al-26 from a nearby supernova explosion into cometary nuclei could lead to comets with surfaces cool enough to retain H2O and interiors warm enough for thermal processing to occur, with the production of complex organic molecules such as amino acids and nucleic acid bases. It is thus suggested that comets may have played a part in seeding the primitive earth with biological polymers capable of self-replication or of evolving towards that capability, and may even be responsible for the subsequent introduction of organic material capable of infecting already existing cells.
Document ID
19800040322
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Irvine, W. M.
(Massachusetts, University Amherst, Mass.; Onsala Space Observatory, Goteborg, Sweden)
Leschine, S. B.
(Massachusetts Univ. Amherst, MA, United States)
Schloerb, F. P.
(Massachusetts, University Amherst, Mass., United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
February 21, 1980
Publication Information
Publication: Nature
Volume: 283
Subject Category
Space Biology
Accession Number
80A24492
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGL-22-010-023
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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