Search Publications
Modelling the Interior Structure of Enceladus Based on the 2014's Cassini Gravity Data
Taubner, R. -S.; Leitner, J. J.; Firneis, M. G. +1 more
We present a model for the internal structure of Saturn's moon Enceladus. This model allows us to estimate the physical conditions at the bottom of the satellite's potential subsurface water reservoir and to determine the radial distribution of pressure and gravity. This leads to a better understanding of the physical and chemical conditions at th…
Anisotropy-Guided Enantiomeric Enhancement in AlanineUsing Far-UV Circularly Polarized Light
Meinert, Cornelia; Cassam-Chenaï, Patrick; Jones, Nykola C. +3 more
All life on Earth is characterized by its asymmetry - both the genetic material and proteins are composed of homochiral monomers. Understanding how this molecular asymmetry initially arose is a key question related to the origins of life. Cometary ice simulations, l-enantiomeric enriched amino acids in meteorites and the detection of circularly po…
Organic Compounds Analysis by TOF-SIMS in the Frame of Rosetta/COSIMA Space Mission
Hilchenbach, M.; Briois, C.; Cottin, H. +4 more
Comets are remainders of the Solar System formation. They also have been discussed as possible sources of water (Deloule 1998) and molecules relevant in the chemical evolution leading to the emergence of life on Earth (Oro 1961). Thus, cometary grains are interesting objects for planetological and astrobiological studies: their analysis can give u…
Early Inner Solar System Impactors: Physical Properties of Comet Nuclei and Dust Particles Revisited
Lasue, J.; Levasseur-Regourd, A. C.; Desvoivres, E.
During the epoch of early bombardment, terrestrial planets have been heavily impacted by cometary nuclei and cometary dust particles progressively injected in the interplanetary medium. Stardust and Deep Impact missions confirm that the nuclei are porous, loosely consolidated objects, with densities below 1,000 kg m-3, and that they oft…
Galileo Avionica's Technologies and Instruments for Planetary Exploration
Re, E.; Battistelli, E.; Falciani, P. +3 more
Several missions for planetary exploration, including comets and asteroids, are ongoing or planned by the European Space Agencies: Rosetta, Venus Express, Bepi Colombo, Dawn, Aurora and all Mars Programme (in its past and next missions) are good examples. The satisfaction of the scientific request for the mentioned programmes calls for the develop…
Photochemical Concepts on the Origin of Biomolecular Asymmetry
Meierhenrich, Uwe J.; Thiemann, Wolfram H. -P.
Biopolymers like DNA and proteins are strongly selective towards the chirality of their monomer units. The use of homochiral monomers is regarded as essential for the construction and function of biopolymers; the emergence of the molecular asymmetry is therefore considered as a fundamental step in Chemical Evolution. This work focuses on physicoch…