TY - JOUR
T1 - Extended high circular polarization in the orion massive star forming region
T2 - Implications for the origin of homochirality in the solar system
AU - Fukue, Tsubasa
AU - Tamura, Motohide
AU - Kandori, Ryo
AU - Kusakabe, Nobuhiko
AU - Hough, James H.
AU - Bailey, Jeremy
AU - Whittet, Douglas C B
AU - Lucas, Philip W.
AU - Nakajima, Yasushi
AU - Hashimoto, Jun
PY - 2010/6
Y1 - 2010/6
N2 - We present a wide-field (~6′ × 6′) and deep near-infrared (Ks band: 2.14 μm) circular polarization image in the Orion nebula, where massive stars and many low-mass stars are forming. Our results reveal that a high circular polarization region is spatially extended (~0.4 pc) around the massive star-forming region, the BN/KL nebula. However, other regions, including the linearly polarized Orion bar, show no significant circular polarization. Most of the low-mass young stars do not show detectable extended structure in either linear or circular polarization, in contrast to the BN/KL nebula. If our solar system formed in a massive star-forming region and was irradiated by net circularly polarized radiation, then enantiomeric excesses could have been induced, through asymmetric photochemistry, in the parent bodies of the meteorites and subsequently delivered to Earth. These could then have played a role in the development of biological homochirality on Earth.
AB - We present a wide-field (~6′ × 6′) and deep near-infrared (Ks band: 2.14 μm) circular polarization image in the Orion nebula, where massive stars and many low-mass stars are forming. Our results reveal that a high circular polarization region is spatially extended (~0.4 pc) around the massive star-forming region, the BN/KL nebula. However, other regions, including the linearly polarized Orion bar, show no significant circular polarization. Most of the low-mass young stars do not show detectable extended structure in either linear or circular polarization, in contrast to the BN/KL nebula. If our solar system formed in a massive star-forming region and was irradiated by net circularly polarized radiation, then enantiomeric excesses could have been induced, through asymmetric photochemistry, in the parent bodies of the meteorites and subsequently delivered to Earth. These could then have played a role in the development of biological homochirality on Earth.
KW - Circular polarization
KW - Enantiomers
KW - Homochirality
KW - Origins of life
KW - Orion nebula
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77951768488&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11084-010-9206-1
DO - 10.1007/s11084-010-9206-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 20213160
AN - SCOPUS:77951768488
VL - 40
SP - 335
EP - 346
JO - Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
JF - Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
SN - 0169-6149
IS - 3
ER -