Recent studies indicated that meteorite material, when UV irradiated has the potential to emit carbon, in the form of methane (CH4) gas. Modern analytical techniques, like NanoSIMS, allow us to measure this decay of meteoritic carbon under the influence of UV irradiation. Several analytical methods, such as cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) and mass spectrometry will give us an insight in the pathways of methane production and its isotopic fingerprints. Future missions to Mars, where we know CH4 is an atmospheric componenet, will provide new data on (meteoritic) organic material which may be present. Comparing future data to our laboratory studies will give us a better understanding of the relation between carbon in meteorites and the Martian CH4 budget.

• prof. dr. T. (Thomas) Roeckmann
• dr. Lubos Polerecky

The origin of the inventory of prebiotic compounds from which life on Earth eventually emerged remains unclear. Assuming the carbon for these compounds to be supplied by exogenous delivery, we look to comets and meteorites where kerogen-type compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) comprise the major fraction, accounting for 75%, of the organic content in meteorites. Here, we test the hypothesis whether these larger solid compounds, and especially PAHs, could serve as a carbon source for the synthesis of some of the building blocks of life. We propose that the presence of mineral catalysts in the substrates of small bodies and planetary surfaces facilitates the break down PAHs, freeing up the carbon and making it available to generate precursor prebiotic compounds.

In this project we perform laboratory experiments to investigate the evolution of irradiated PAHs adsorbed to various mineral substrates. Laboratory simulation chambers allow us to gain insight into the nature of organic carbon chemistry on various rocky bodies in our solar system. This data can be used alongside astronomical data to better understand their nature and help guide the instrumentation choices on space missions to places like Mars, asteroids & comets.

• dr. Helen King
• dr. Nina Kopacz

• Alexandra Zetterlind MSc

• prof. dr. Floris van der Tak
• dr. Christian Potiszil