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J. Llorca, “Organic Matter in Comets and Cometary Dust,” International Microbiology, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2005, pp. 5-12.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: The Effect of Radiogenic Heating on the Amino Acid Content of an Early Cometary Body

  AUTHORS: Carlo Canepa

  KEYWORDS: Amino Acids; Radiogenic Heating; Comet; Prebiotic Chemistry

  JOURNAL NAME: International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol.3 No.3, September 3, 2013

  ABSTRACT: This study compares the rates for the formation and destruction of amino acids in the liquid cometary core subjected to radiogenic heating by the β+ decay of the cosmogenic nuclide 26Al. The evolution of the temperature and mass of the comet were computed along with the dynamics of relatively complex organic species such as amino acids. Given the experimentally determined rate coefficient for the radiolysis of amino acids in water solution, the destruction of amino acids is virtually completed after an absorbed radiation dose of ~1 kGy. The calculations suggest that the liquid water core in comets with an initial radionuclide abundance that is sufficient to crystallize and melt the original amorphous ice is subjected to a dose of 100 - 1500 kGy. Any amino acid concentration formed in water either by radiolysis of simpler compounds or by thermal processes such as the synthesis of Strecker could not survive the irradiation delivered by the decay of 26Al.