Circular polarization in star-formation regions: implications for biomolecular homochirality.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Strong infrared circular polarization resulting from dust scattering in reflection nebulae in the Orion OMC-1 star-formation region has been observed. Circular polarization at shorter wavelengths might have been important in inducing chiral asymmetry in interstellar organic molecules that could be subsequently delivered to the early Earth by comets, interplanetary dust particles, or meteors. This could account for the excess of L-amino acids found in the Murchison meteorite and could explain the origin of the homochirality of biological molecules.
منابع مشابه
Circular Polarization and the Origin of Biomolecular Homochirality
The origin of the homochirality of biological molecules (the fact that living systems use almost exclusively left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars) has been a puzzle since the last century. The discovery of an excess of left-handed amino acids in the Murchison and Murray meteorites suggests that homochirality re ects a bias that existed in primordial solar-system material before the o...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Science
دوره 281 5377 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1998