Abstract
We have seen in Chapter 1 that the biogenic elements were formed in stellar cores and later were expelled by the host star through stellar explosions l and other processes. Subsequently, they combine in the atmospheres of evolved stars to form diatomic and triatomic molecules that are to have transcendental consequences in the subsequent stages of prebiotic and biological evolution. A few examples are: C2, OH, and H2O, but even larger molecules have been detected in interstellar clouds.
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Notes and references
Cf. Glossary: “amino acids”, “bases”.
Cf. Glossary: “interstellar dust”.
Cf. Glossary: “photosphere”; cf., also Fegley Jr., B. (1993) Chemistry of the Solar Nebula, in The Chemistry of Life’s Origins, J.M. Greenberg, C.X. Mendoza-Gomez and Piranello, V. (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 75–147; N. Grevesse (1984) Accurate atomic data and solar photospheric spectroscopy, Physica Scripta T8, 49-58.
To put meteorite composition on a convenient scale, we have adopted the standard normalization, in which an abundant element in the silicates (a ‘lithophile’) with high melting temperature is chosen; in the present case it is Si. Other possibilities are Mg or Al. In the solar photosphere the standard choice is the element hydrogen (cf., Lipschutz, M. E. and Schultz, L. (1999) Meteorites, in Encyclopedia of the Solar System, P. R. Weissman, L.-A. McFadden and T. V. Johnson (eds.), Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 629–671. For meteorites the data are presented on a weight basis, such as in the Elsevier Table, where the results are given in ppm by weight; cf., Lof, P. (ed.), (1987) Elsevier’s Periodic Table of Elements, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam. Alternatively the results are given on atom basis, as we have done in Table 2.1. For the hydrogen abundance in the CI chondrite, we have used the specific value for the Orgueil chondrite (where we have equated the carbon abundance of 34,500 ppm by weight with the atomic scale value cited in Table 2.1).
Oro, J. (1995) Chemical synthesis of lipids and the origin of life, in Ponnamperuma, C. and Chela-Flores, J. (eds.), (1995) Chemical Evolution: The Structure and Model of the First Cell, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 135–147.
Oro, J. (1961) Comets and the formation of biochemical compounds on the primitive earth, Nature 190, 389–390.
Brownlee, D. E. and Sandford, S. A. (1992) Cosmic Dust, in G. C. Carle, D. E. Schwartz, and J. L. Huntington, (eds.), Exobiology in Solar System Exploration, NASA Publication SP 512, pp. 145–157.
Cf. Glossary: “unsaturated”, “hydrocarbons”; cf. also Delsemme, A. H. (1992) Comets: Role and importance to Exobiology, in G. C. Carle, D. E. Schwartz, and J. L. Huntington (eds.), Exobiology in Solar System Exploration. NASA publication SP 512, pp. 177–197.
Cf. Chapter 1, where “The Origin of Elements” was discussed.
For an up-to-date review, see Cassen, P. and Woolum, D. S. (1999) The origin of the Solar System, in P. R. Weissman, L.-A. McFadden and T. V. Johnson (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Solar System, Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 35–63.
Cf. Table 8.4.
Cf. Glossary: “terrestrial planets.
Cf. Glossary: “carbonaceous chondrites”.
Cf. Glossary: “silicate”.
The reader should keep in mind that the discoveries of planets outside our solar system may require deeper insights than those sketched in Chapter 2; cf. Glossary: “Jovian planets”. In particular, the Jovian density is 1.3 gm/cm3 This should be compared with the terrestrial density which is 5.5 gm/cm3.
Cf. Glossary: “accretion”.
Pollack, J. B. and Atreya, S. K. (1992) Giant planets: Clues on Current and Past Organic Chemistry in the Outer Solar System, in G. C. Carle, D. E. Schwartz, and J. L. Huntington (eds.), Exobiology in Solar System Exploration, NASA publication SP 512, pp. 83–101; cf. also ref. 1, Chapter 3.
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Chela-Flores, J. (2001). From chemical to prebiotic evolution. In: The New Science of Astrobiology. Cellular Origin and Life in Extreme Habitats, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0822-8_3
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