Southwest Research Institute was part of an international team that demonstrated how complex organic molecules (COMs), key chemical precursors to life, could have been incorporated into Jupiter’s Galilean moons during their formation. The team’s findings have resulted in complementary studies published in The Planetary Science Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, offering new insights into the potential for life in the Jovian system.
How complex organics can form Carbon-rich compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen and other elements are necessary for living matter to form. Laboratory experiments have shown that COMs can form when icy grains containing methanol or mixtures of carbondioxide and ammonia are exposed to either ultraviolet radiation or moderate heating under conditions found in protoplanetary disks. These disks of gas and dust surround newly formed stars that eventually form planets.
“By combining disk evolution with particle transport models, we could precisely quantify the radiation and thermal conditions the icy grains experienced,” said Dr. Olivier Mousis of SwRI’s solar system science and exploration division, who is lead author of one of the two studies. “Then we directly compared our simulations with other laboratory experiments that produce COMs under realistic astrophysical conditions. The results showed that COM formation is possible in both the protosolar nebula environment and Jupiter’s circumplanetary disk.”
