Planetary science articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

• Thesis | 22 October 2020

  Chemistry of the sky god

  If you feel like shifting your attention away from what’s happening here on planet Earth in 2020 for a moment, join Bruce C. Gibb on a tour through the chemistry of the largest planet in the Solar System.

  • Bruce C. Gibb

• Thesis | 22 September 2016

  A brief history of water

  Michelle Francl wonders just how old the water in her tea is.

  • Michelle Francl

• In Your Element | 24 October 2011

  Meteoric calcium

  Calcium is found throughout the solar system, the Earth's crust and oceans, and is an essential constituent of cells, shells and bones — yet it is curiously scarce in the upper atmosphere. John Plane ponders on this 25-year-old mystery.

  • John M. C. Plane

• Article | 12 September 2010

  Synthesis of glycine-containing complexes in impacts of comets on early Earth

  The formation of simple prebiotic organic compounds on early Earth is thought to be an important step in the origin of life. Molecular dynamics simulations of the conditions within cometary ice during planetary impact suggest a possible mechanism for the formation of glycine, an amino acid.

  • Nir Goldman
  • , Evan J. Reed
  •  & Amitesh Maiti