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Planetary science

Prebiotic chemistry on the rocks

Nature volume 520, pages 161–162 (2015)Cite this article

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Organic compounds called nitriles have been detected in material surrounding a young star. The finding hints at a vast reservoir of ice and volatile species that can seed the surfaces of young rocky planets or moons. See Letter p.198

The recipe for creating a habitable planet such as Earth contains several essential ingredients. Once the key components — a silicate mantle and a metallic, iron-rich core — have been built, there must be sufficient liquid water and appropriate forms of carbon and nitrogen available near the surface, along with a sprinkling of sulfur and phosphorus. Water and the organic carriers of the necessary elements (C, N, S, P) are known as volatiles because temperatures must be very low (below about 150 kelvin) for them to be frozen into the pebbles that are the seeds of rocky worlds. On page 198 of this issue, Öberg et al.1 report the discovery of spectral emission lines from gaseous molecules of C–N-containing organic species in potentially planet-forming environments using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The observed lines trace the surface of a vast reservoir of icy bodies that can deliver volatile organics to the surfaces of young rocky planets or to moons circling gas-giant planets at distances from the central star at which liquid water is stable.

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Figure 1: HL Tau disk.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geoffrey A. Blake is at the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.,

    Geoffrey A. Blake

  2. Edwin A. Bergin is in the Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.,

    Edwin A. Bergin

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  1. Geoffrey A. Blake
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  2. Edwin A. Bergin
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Correspondence to Geoffrey A. Blake or Edwin A. Bergin.

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Blake, G., Bergin, E. Prebiotic chemistry on the rocks. Nature 520, 161–162 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/520161a

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