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Interstellar Glycine

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Yi-Jehng Kuan1,2, Steven B. Charnley3, Hui-Chun Huang1, Wei-Ling Tseng1 and Zbigniew Kisiel4

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We have searched for interstellar conformer I glycine (NH2CH2COOH), the simplest amino acid, in the hot molecular cores Sgr B2(N-LMH), Orion KL, and W51 e1/e2. An improved search strategy for intrinsically weak molecular lines, involving multisource observations, has been developed and implemented. In total, 82 spectral frequency bands, in the millimeter-wave region, were observed over a 4 yr period; 27 glycine lines were detected in 19 different spectral bands in one or more sources. The rotational temperatures derived from "rotation diagrams" are 75img1.gif K for Sgr B2(N-LMH), 141img2.gif K for Orion KL, and 121img3.gif K for W51 e1/e2. The total column densities inferred are 4.16img4.gif × 1014 cm-2 for Sgr B2, 4.37img5.gif × 1014 cm-2 for Orion, and 2.09img6.gif × 1014 cm-2 for W51. Production of interstellar glycine by both gas-phase ion-molecule reactions and by ultraviolet photolysis of molecular ices is briefly discussed. The discovery of interstellar glycine strengthens the thesis that interstellar organic molecules could have played a pivotal role in the prebiotic chemistry of the early Earth.


Subject headings

astrobiology; ISM: abundances; ISM: individual (Orion Kleinmann-Low, Sagittarius B2(N-LMH), W51 e1/e2); ISM: molecules; line: identification; radio lines: ISM


Dates

Issue 2 (2003 August 20)

Received 2002 November 15, accepted for publication 2003 April 1



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