RESEARCHES OF EXO/ASTROBIOLOGICAL INTEREST AT THE LABORATORY OF EXPERIMENTAL ASTROPHYSICS IN CATANIA (ITALY)

摘要

Some results, obtained from laboratory experiments of ion irradiation of ice mixtures containing H, C, N, and O bearing species are here summarized. They, in particular the formation of CN-bearing species, are relevant to the formation and evolution of complex organics on interstellar dust and small bodies in the external Solar System. Material incorporated into primitive Solar System bodies and delivered to the early Earth, may have contributed to the origin of life. The delivery of CN-bearing species seems to have been necessary because molecules containing the cyanogen bond are difficult to be produced in an environment that is not strongly reducing as that of the early Earth probably was. We report also on an ongoing research program concerning the interaction between refractory materials produced by ion irradiation of simple ices and biological materials (amino acids, proteins, cells). Perspective for possible future work is also given.