TY - JOUR
T1 - UV circular polarisation in star formation regions
T2 - The origin of homochirality?
AU - Lucas, P. W.
AU - Hough, J. H.
AU - Bailey, Jeremy
AU - Chrysostomou, Antonio
AU - Gledhill, T. M.
AU - Mccall, Alan
PY - 2005/2
Y1 - 2005/2
N2 - Ultraviolet circularly polarised light has been suggested as the initial cause of the homochirality of organic molecules in terrestrial organisms, via enantiomeric selection of prebiotic molecules by asymmetric photolysis. We present a theoretical investigation of mechanisms by which ultraviolet circular polarisation may be produced in star formation regions. In the scenarios considered here, light scattering produces only a small percentage of net circular polarisation at any point in space, due to the forward throwing nature of the phase function in the ultraviolet. By contrast, dichroic extinction can produce a fairly high percentage of net circular polarisation (∼10%) and may therefore play a key role in producing an enantiomeric excess.
AB - Ultraviolet circularly polarised light has been suggested as the initial cause of the homochirality of organic molecules in terrestrial organisms, via enantiomeric selection of prebiotic molecules by asymmetric photolysis. We present a theoretical investigation of mechanisms by which ultraviolet circular polarisation may be produced in star formation regions. In the scenarios considered here, light scattering produces only a small percentage of net circular polarisation at any point in space, due to the forward throwing nature of the phase function in the ultraviolet. By contrast, dichroic extinction can produce a fairly high percentage of net circular polarisation (∼10%) and may therefore play a key role in producing an enantiomeric excess.
KW - Circularly polarized light
KW - Enantiomers
KW - Homochirality
KW - Origins of life
KW - Star formation regions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=18644371512&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11084-005-7770-6
DO - 10.1007/s11084-005-7770-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 15889649
AN - SCOPUS:18644371512
VL - 35
SP - 29
EP - 60
JO - Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
JF - Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
SN - 0169-6149
IS - 1
ER -