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From Molecular Clouds to the Origin of Life

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Astrobiology

Abstract

In our Milky Way and in external galaxies, the space between the stars is filled with an interstellar medium (ISM) consisting of gas and dust. The ISM can be divided in various different components with very different physical parameters, ranging from a very hot (106 K), dilute (<10−2 particles cm−3) component heated by supernova explosions, which fills more than half of its volume, to molecular clouds with temperatures from 10 to 100 K and molecular hydrogen (H2) densities from a few hundred to 108 particles cm−3, which make up less than 1% of the ISM’s volume. Approximately 1% of its mass is contained in microscopic (micron-sized) interstellar dust.

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Authors
  1. Pascale Ehrenfreund
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  2. Karl M. Menten
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  1. Institut für Luft-und Raumfahrtmedizin, Linder Höhe, 51147, Köln, Germany

    Gerda Horneck  & Christa Baumstark-Khan  & 

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Ehrenfreund, P., Menten, K.M. (2002). From Molecular Clouds to the Origin of Life. In: Horneck, G., Baumstark-Khan, C. (eds) Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59381-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59381-9_2

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