Formation mechanisms of amino acids in simulated interstellar media by high-energy particles irradiation

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In order to examine possible formation of complex organic compounds in dense cloud environments, we irradiate mixtures of carbon monoxide, methanol, methane, ammonia, and/or water with high-energy particles (protons from a Tandem accelerator, or heavy ions from HIMAC, NIRS) to simulate the action of cosmic rays. When the simulated interstellar media mixture, complex amino acid precursors with high molecular weights were directly formed. Purines and pyrimidines including the five nucleic acid bases were also detected among the products. In order to study the formation of bioorganic compounds in ice mantles of interstellar dusts, a new irradiation system was designed and constructed. It was composed of a gas mixer, a cryostat chamber and analytical system including a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The ice will be irradiated with heavy ions from the Digital Accelerator in KEK, Japan.