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Murchison meteorite
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| A piece of the Murchison meteorite. © New England Meteoritical Services |
Eyewitnesses arriving at the scene reported smelling something like methanol or pyridine, an early indication that the object might contain organic material. Subsequent analysis by NASA scientists and a group led by Cyril Ponnamperuma revealed the presence of 6 amino acids commonly found in protein and 12 that did not occur in terrestrial life. All of these amino acids appeared in both dextrorotatory (right-handed) and laevorotatory (left-handed) forms, suggesting that they were not the result of Earthly contamination. The meteorite also contained hydrocarbons which appeared abiogenic in character and was enriched with a heavy isotope of carbon, confirming the extraterrestrial origin of its organics. Initial studies suggested that the amino acids in the Murchison meteorite showed no bias between left- and right-handed forms. However, in 1997, John R. Cronin and Sandra Pizzarello of Arizona State University reported finding excesses of left-handed versions of four amino acids ranging from 7 to 9%,1 a result confirmed independently by another group.2 More than 70 amino acids have been identified in Murchison altogether. To this organic mixture, in 2001, was added a range of polyols – organic substances closely related to sugars such as glucose.3 See also organic matter in meteorites.
[Thanks to Norbert & Heike Kammel, of Rocks on Fire, who pointed out that there are two townships of Murchison in Australia – one about 400 km north of Perth (which this entry originally and erroneously indicated as the site of the meteorite fall), the other in the state of Victoria, where the fall actually took place.]
Archived news
The sweet taste of – meteorites? (Dec 20, 2001)References
- Cronin, J. R., and Pizzarello, S. "Enantiomeric Excesses in Meteoritic Amino Acids," Science, 275, 951 (1997).
- Engel, M. H., and Macko, S. A. "Isotopic Evidence for Extraterrestrial Non-Racemic Amino Acids in the Murchison Meteorite," Nature, 389, 265 (1997).
- Cooper, G. et al. "Carbonaceous meteorites as a source of sugar-related organic compounds for the early Earth," Nature, 414, 879-883 (2001).
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