Icy bodies in space are being irradiated continuously by ionizing radiation. Therefore, the transformation of organic molecules trapped in extraterrestrial ices might have been possible. This work studied a bulk irradiation of a mixture of some constituents of cometary nuclei. The results show that the formation of different compounds, among them ammonia, carbon dioxide, amines, ureas, free amino acids, and oligomeric material, yields carboxylic acids, amino acids, and purines upon hydrolysis.

One of the key questions of infrared astronomy is how the characteristics of dust depend on the physical properties of the surrounding medium. To address this question, we present results from the Spitzer Space Telescope on two projects designed to study the dust properties of a sample of 25 Planetary Nebulae (PNe) in the Magellanic Clouds, and three well-known Giant Hii regions (NGC 3603, 30 Doradus and N 66/NGC 346). Most PNe show emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and only two of them show amorphous silicates. Eleven PNe display a strong broad feature around 11 μm which is attributed to silicon carbide and 8 of them show magnesium sulfide. One PNe, SMP LMC 11, shows spectacular absorption bands due to molecules which are the precursors from which more complex hydrocarbons are formed. The Spitzer spectra of the Hii regions, NGC 3603, 30 Doradus, and NGC 346 are very rich, displaying a wealth of spectral features within each region. This not only allows us to compare the dust at different metallicities but also to study the spatial variations of many features across a given region and correlate it with the distance to the ionizing cluster(s) and other parameters.

Laboratory simulation of interstellar grain processing is a unique tool to better understand the nature and evolution of cosmic dust. In recent years this approach has been crucial to outline a new model of evolution of the aliphatic component of organic matter in the interstellar medium. Here, the results of a recent laboratory research on processing of nano-sized carbon particles by H atoms under simulated dense medium conditions are discussed. The experiments show that the formation of C-H bonds in the aliphatic CH2 and CH3 functional groups does not take place, while the activation of a band at 3.47 μm, due to the C-H stretching vibration of tertiary sp3 carbon atoms, is observed. These results indicate that the assumption about inhibition of aliphatic C-H bond formation in interstellar dense clouds is correct. Moreover, they suggest that carbon grains responsible for the interstellar aliphatic band at 3.4 μm in diffuse regions can contribute to the absorption observed at 3.47 μm in dense clouds.

We present the physical structure (density and temperature profiles) and the distribution of formaldehyde and methanol in intermediate mass protostar OMC2-FIR4 in the Orion molecular cloud complex.

In recent years buckyonions have been suggested as a carrier of the 2175 Å interstellar extinction feature, based on the close similarity between the electronic transition spectra of buckyonions and the 2175 Å interstellar extinction feature. We examine this hypothesis by calculating the interstellar extinction with buckyonions as a dust component. It is found that dust models containing buckyonions (in addition to amorphous silicates, PAHs, graphite or amorphous carbon) can closely reproduce the observed interstellar extinction curve. However, a more severe challenge to the buckyonion hypothesis is provided by the non-detection of the ~7–8 μm C–H stretching bands expected from buckyonions in the diffuse interstellar medium. This will allow us to place an upper limit on the abundance of buckyonions.

The presence of an undersurface ocean renders Europa as one of the few planetary bodies in our Solar System that has been conjectured to have possibly harbored life. Some of the organic and inorganic species present in the ocean underneath are expected to transport upwards through the relatively thin ice crust and manifest themselves as impurities of the water ice surface. For this reason, together with its unique dynamic atmosphere and geological features, Europa has attracted strong scientific interests in past decades.

Europa is imbedded inside the Jovian magnetosphere, and, therefore, is constantly subjected to the immerse surrounding radiations, similar to the other three Galilean satellites. The magnetosphere-atmosphere-surface interactions form a complex system that provides a multitude of interesting geophysical phenomenon that is unique in the Solar System. The atmosphere of Europa is thought to have created by, mostly, charged particles sputtering of surface materials. Consequently, the study of Europa's atmosphere can be used as a tool to infer the surface composition. In this paper, we will discuss our recent model studies of Europa's near-surface atmosphere. In particular, the abundances and distributions of the dominant O2 and H2O species, and of other organic and inorganic minor species will be addressed.

We present 5–20 μm Spitzer/IRS spectroscopy toward stars behind dark molecular clouds. We present preliminary results from the Serpens dark cloud to show the variation between environments within a cloud. We are surveying 3 clouds with varying levels of star formation activity. Serpens has the highest level of activity from our 3 clouds. We show that location as well extinction can cause variations in ice composition. We also find that some lines of sight contain organic molecules such as methane and methanol, and the first detection of acetylene ice in the interstellar medium. We believe the high extinction lines of sight have been enriched by star formation activity near those lines of sight.

When hydrogen, nitrogen and CO are exposed to amorphous iron silicate surfaces at temperatures between 500–900 K a carbonaceous coating forms via Fischer-Tropsch type reactions. Under normal circumstances such a coating would impede or stop further reaction. However, we find that this coating is a better catalyst than the amorphous iron silicates that initiate these reactions. Formation of a self-perpetuating catalytic coating on grain surfaces could explain the rich deposits of macromolecular carbon found in primitive meteorites and would imply that protostellar nebulae should be rich in organic material.

Tholins are polymeric hydrogenated carbon nitrides formed from N2:CH4 mixtures exposed to electrical discharges. They are complex disordered solids, and their structural chemistry and formation processes are not yet fully understood. Tholins have been widely adopted as useful analogs of reddish organic solids associated with planetary bodies or in interstellar space (e.g., Titan's aerosols, reddish surfaces of outer objects, interstellar organics, etc.) for fitting astronomical observations. However, there has been little evidence to date that they in fact constitute pertinent model materials, i. e. with chemical structure/composition similar to those presumed to be present in planetary or interstellar organic solids. In this contribution, we first review recent advances made regarding the determination of composition and structure of tholins produced in the laboratory. They point to a high chemical selectivity in the range of functional groups present, the control of unsaturation by nitrogen, and the highly disordered character of the structures. In a second section, we discuss the relationship between chemistry and the optical properties of tholins, and we point out the lack of a unique relationship between the shape and strength of the visible absorption bands and the chemical composition or structure of the model tholins. The tholins exhibit similarities with HCN “polymers”, that are suspected to be present in cometary refractory dust. This points to the existence of possible similar polymerisation processes, and it suggests they could also be used as analogs of N-rich cometary organics. Laboratory-based studies of cometary dust might offer new insights on the “chemical relevancy” of tholins, as combined micro-analytical techniques will allow direct comparison of chemical information between the materials produced. In a third section we present recent results pertaining to the search for such compounds in cometary grains (Stardust grains, interplanetary dust particles - IDPs). We show that some N-rich spots in stratospheric IDPs are rich in cyanide species, but no tholin-like compounds or polymeric HCN have been detected to date.

The interstellar medium (ISM) spectrum is usually explained by the response of dust particles (DPs) to the absorption of ultraviolet (UV) and visible (VIS) photons from nearby stars. With regard to the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands, the DPs are thought heated by UV and VIS photons to about 100 K thereby exciting the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, the UIR bands may be explained with the DPs at 2.7 K. To wit, the UIR bands form by the direct excitation of PAHs by infrared (IR) radiation induced from the absorption of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation in DPs by quantum electrodynamics (QED).

IRAS 19312+1950 is a unique SiO maser source, exhibiting a rich set of molecular radio lines, although SiO maser sources are usually identified as oxygen-rich evolved stars, in which chemistry is relatively simple comparing with carbon-rich environments. The rich chemistry of IRAS 19312+1950 has raised a problem in circumstellar chemistry if this object is really an oxygen-rich evolved star, but its evolutional status is still controversial. In this paper, we briefly review the previous observations of IRAS 19312+1950, as well as presenting preliminary results of recent VLBI observations in maser lines. PDF file of the poster is available from http://www.geocities.jp/nakashima_junichi/

Polarimetric observations demonstrated that all comets with significant values of circular polarization show predominantly left–handed circularly polarized light. We discuss the presence of homochiral organics in cometary materials as a source of the observed circular polarization. We have studied the effect of chirality on light–scattering properties of cometary dust considering particles that possess optical activity. Our investigations show that the cometary dust may include optically active materials which can be prebiological homochiral organics.

We use Spitzer IRS spectra to determine the solid CH4 abundance toward a large sample (52 sources) of low mass protostars. 50% of the sources have an absorption feature at 7.7 μm, attributed to solid CH4. The solid CH4/H2O abundances are 2–13%, but toward sources with H2O column densities above 2 × 1018 cm−2, the CH4 abundances (20 out of 25) are nearly constant at 4.7 ± 1.6%. Correlations with CO2 and H2O together with the inferred abundances are consistent with CH4 formation through sequential hydrogenation of C on grain surfaces, but not with formation from CH3OH and formation in gas phase with subsequent freeze-out.

Presented here are the preliminary results of a long-term study of S-stars on the AGB. S-stars are important as possible transition objects between oxygen-rich M-stars and carbon stars. The aim of the study is to compare results from our newly gathered observational database for the S-stars with those already obtained for the M- and carbon stars. We can thus follow the changes as the stars evolve along the AGB and more firmly establish the suggested M-MS-S-SC-C evolutionary sequence. It will also allow us to determine the relative importance of processes such as non-equilibrium chemistry, grain formation, and photodissociation in regulating the chemistry in circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars.

The insoluble organic material (IOM) in primitive meteorites is related to the organic material in interplanetary dust particles and comets, and is probably related to the refractory organic material in the diffuse interstellar medium. If the IOM is representative of refractory ISM organics, models for how and from what it formed will have to be revised.

Planets and their moons are constantly subjected to irradiation from both their respective planetary magnetospheres and the solar wind. Energetic particles (electrons, protons and ions) in such radiation may induce complex chemistry within the icy mantles of such bodies, producing many organic compounds. Such processes can be simulated in laboratory experiments. In this report we present recent results from experiments exploring both molecular synthesis and the morphology of such ices.

The morphology of any ice may be characterised by IR and Vacuum Ultra-Violet (VUV) spectroscopy. The latter is particularly useful for studying ices in which infrared inactive molecules like oxygen (O2) are common. We have shown that oxygen forms dimers in typical planetary ices and that, in contrast to previous analysis, many of the chemical reactions within the ice involve such dimer (and larger cluster) chemistry. We also present the results of a series of experiments that explore electron, proton and ion irradiation on Solar System relevant ices such as carbon dioxide (CO2) at different temperatures. Infrared spectra recorded before and after irradiation are used to identify and quantify molecules formed in such irradiation, e. g. ozone. These experiments show that the morphology of the ice plays a critical role in the chemistry.

The thermal alteration process of filmy quenched carbonaceous composite (filmy QCC) has been studied in situ by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). HRTEM images of the as-prepared filmy QCC showed the typical amorphous carbon film structure. By heating above 300 °C, the structural alteration takes place. Curled graphene structure started to appear at 300 °C. Distorted onion-like structure similar to dark QCC appeared above 500 to 700 °C. The distorted onion-like structure that appears at 700 °C after heating for 30 minutes also appeared by heating at 450 °C for 2 hours.

Ion-neutral chemistry in Titan's upper atmosphere (~ 1000 km altitude) is an unexpectedly prodigious source of hydrocarbon-nitrile compounds. We report observations from the Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS; Waite et al. 2004) and Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS; Young et al. 2004) that allow us to follow the formation of the organic material from the initial ionization and dissociation of nitrogen and methane driven by several free energy sources (extreme ultraviolet radiation and energetic ions and electrons) to the formation of negative ions with masses exceeding 10,000 amu.

If interstellar meteors are present among the registered meteor orbits, the distribution of the excesses of their heliocentric velocities should correspond to the distribution of radial velocities of close stars. Hence, for the velocity vi = 20 kms−1 of an interstellar meteor (with respect to the Sun) we obtain a heliocentric velocity vH = 46.6 kms−1 of an interstellar meteor arriving at the Earth. Moreover, a concentration of radiants to the Sun's apex should be observed. An analysis of the hyperbolic meteors among the 4581 photographic orbits of the IAU Meteor Data Center showed that the identification of the vast majority of the hyperbolic orbits in these catalogues has been caused by an erroneous determination of their heliocentric velocity and/or other parameters. Any error in the determination of vH, especially near the parabolic limit, can create an artificial hyperbolic orbit that does not really exist. On the basis of photographic meteors from the IAU MDC, the proportion of possible interstellar meteors decreased significantly (greater than 1 order of magnitude) after error analysis and does not exceed the value 2.5 × 10−4. Neither any concentration of radiants to the Sun's apex, nor any distribution following the motion of interstellar material has been found.

Dehydrogenated coronene molecules have been proposed as the source of the UV-bump in the interstellar extinction curve as well as of some of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). To test this hypothesis we have recently undertaken a combined (a) modelling, and (b) observational work on the subject. (a) In the framework of a global approach to the photophysics of a PAH–like species in space, we used combined theoretical calculated properties, obtained with (time–dependent) density functional theory, and a Monte–Carlo model simulating the time evolution of the population of levels of a given molecule, to obtain the detailed ro–vibrational spectral structure of selected electronic transitions. (b) From the observational point of view, we compare our predictions with observations of the well–known λ6284 and λ5780 DIBs.