Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminars

Timing the onset of life's origins on Earth

by Prof. Ramon Brasser (ELSI)

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at Hybrid ( AG 66 )
https://tifr-res-in.zoom.us/j/98568763366?pwd=L1FYQXh0emp2TzJNUTZsWWxxZkt2Zz09 Meeting ID: 985 6876 3366 Passcode: 232333
Description
After its primary accretion had finished, the proto-Earth underwent a catastrophic collision with a stray planetary embryo equivalent to Mars’ mass. This event effectively reset Earth’s radiometric chronometers such as Pb-isotopes, and gave rise to the Moon. Geochemical evidence from both bodies suggests that the Earth underwent a second large impact with roughly a lunar-sized object dubbed 'Moneta' approximately 4.48 billion years ago. Due to its smaller size Moneta’s metal core shattered and mixed with Fe becoming oxidized with terrestrial surface water or oxidized mantle to form a dense (<90 bar) hydrogen gas atmosphere with a lifetime of ~200 Myr. This generated a highly reducing atmosphere that could have provided the conditions for synthesis in the atmosphere of the molecular building blocks for life as we know it. Could an RNA world ultimately be a (by)product of a colossal impact? Here I will propose a temporal window of opportunity for a chemical milieu where life originated and whether such impact events are necessary on rocky exoplanets to kickstart alien life.
Organised by DAA-NSF Special Colloquium