Cosmochemistry and Planetary Science at the University of Manchester

我们在宇宙中是孤独的，还是生命遍布宇宙？地球和我们的太阳系有什么特别之处？为了回答这些问题，天文学家研究其他太阳系的形成，并寻找其他恒星周围的行星系统。我们通过研究外星物质来解决它们。我们的目标是了解我们的太阳系是如何形成和进化的;是什么特性使生命的出现和复杂有机体的发展成为可能;以及在条件有利的地方生命发展的可能性有多大。我们将继续研究来自地球以外的样本，如行星际尘埃颗粒（进入地球大气层的微粒，主要来自彗星）、陨石和空间飞行任务从月球、火星、小行星和彗星返回的样本，以解决这些问题。其中一些物质包含在我们太阳系形成之前很久就死亡的恒星周围形成的尘埃，使我们能够了解这些恒星如何形成构成我们星球和我们身体的元素。其他化学和同位素示踪剂揭示了行星形成和演化的时间，使我们能够了解太阳系在我们的星球形成时是什么样子的。我们的地球有一个金属铁核，一个岩石地幔和地壳，我们生活在上面，海洋和大气层让我们茁壮成长。地球的形成是一个激烈的过程，最终塑造了支持我们的环境。我们将研究来自小行星的陨石，这些陨石经历了类似的过程，以了解它们是如何展开的。我们还将研究富含碳的物质和气体在哪里以及如何被纳入小行星和彗星，它们的成分是什么以及它们最终如何被纳入地球。这将有助于我们了解地球是如何获得我们生命所依赖的大气和海洋的。满月的脸是非常熟悉的，但它是清醒地反映，它是超过30亿岁的事实上，月球的地壳可以追溯到一个时期，当生命开始在地球上和很少的痕迹被保存下来。研究月球使我们有机会了解地球是如何受到小行星在这一关键时期撞击地球的灾难性影响的。来自阿波罗使命的样本给了我们一些信息，但月球陨石提供了来自月球其他地区的材料，对此知之甚少，并有助于揭示地球历史上这一神秘时期的新情况。火星上是否有生命是一个令人着迷的问题。火星曾经提供过适宜生命生存的环境吗？如果是的话，生命有没有找到过立足点？火星上存在生命的基本成分是什么？这些成分是如何在地球上循环的？有多少是陨石带来的。这些是生命可以利用的形式吗？水存在吗？我们将在实验室里模拟火星表面，用陨石“施肥”，看看生命是否能存活，以及它产生了什么，我们可以在火星上寻找。我们还将在来自火星的稀有陨石中寻找火星水和大气气体的证据，以了解火星环境如何随着时间的推移而演变。分析图像是了解太阳系的另一种方式，但我们如何确定我们已经正确识别了特征？这是一个在许多领域反复出现的问题，从面部识别系统到MRI扫描。我们已经开发出一种新的方法，并将使用它来研究月球表面的撞击事件记录和火星上排水系统的演变。这是一个令人兴奋的时刻，随着我们将新技术引入理解太阳系的问题，我们对我们在宇宙中的位置的看法正在迅速演变。作为这笔资金的一部分，我们将继续追求新的发展，这将有助于未来几代行星科学家更清楚地了解我们太阳系和我们自己的历史。

Are we alone in the universe, or is life widespread? In what way are the Earth and our own solar system special? To answer these questions sstronomers studying the formation of other solar systems and seek planetary systems around other stars. We tackle them by studying extraterrestrial material. We aim to understand how our solar system formed and evolved; what properties enabled the emergence and of life and the development of complex organisms; and how likely it is that life develops where conditions are favourable. We will continue to address these questions by studying samples from beyond the Earth, such as interplanetary dust particles (minute grains, mostly from comets, that enter the Earth's atmosphere), meteorites and samples returned by space missions from the Moon, Mars, asteroids and comets. Some of this material contains dust that formed around stars that died long before our own solar system formed, allowing us to understand how these stars formed the elements that make up our planet and our bodies. Other chemical and isotopic tracers reveal the timing of planet formation and evolution, allowing us to understand what the solar system was like as our planet formed.Our Earth has a metallic iron core, a rocky mantle and crust on which we live, and oceans and an atmosphere that allow us to thrive.. Formation of the Earth was a violent process that eventually shaped the environment that supports us. We will study meteorites from asteroids that went through similar processes to understand how they unfolded. We will also look at where and how carbon-rich material and gases were incorporated into asteroids and comets, what their compositions were and how they were eventually incorporated into the Earth. This will help us understand how the Earth acquired the atmosphere and oceans on which our life depends. The face of the full Moon is very familiar, but it is sobering to reflect that it is more than 3 billion years old In fact, the Moon's crust dates back to a period when life was getting started on the Earth and few traces are preserved. Studying the Moon gives us an opportunity to understand how the Earth was affected by the cataclysmic asteroid impacts that pounded our planet during this crucial time. Samples from the Apollo mission have given us some information, but lunar meteorites provide material from other areas of the Moon about which little is known, and help to shed new light on this enigmatic period of Earth's history. Whether there is life on Mars is a fascinating question. Has Mars ever provided an environment hospitable to life? If it does, has, has life ever found a foothold? What basic ingredients for life were present on Mars, how are these cycled around the planet? How much was delivered by meteorites. Were these in a form that life can use and was water present? We will simulate the Martian surface in the laboratory and "fertilise" it by meteorites to see whether life can survive, and what it produces that we could look for on Mars. We will also search for evidence of Martian water and atmospheric gases, in rare meteorites that come from Mars to understand how its environment has evolved over time.Analysing images is another way of understanding our solar system, but how sure can we be that we have identified features correctly? This is a problem that recurs in many areas, from face recognition systems to MRI scans. We have developed a new approach and will be using it to study the record of impact events on the Moon's surface and the evolution of drainage systems on Mars.It is an exciting time where our view of our place in the universe is evolving rapidly as we bring new techniques to the problem of understanding our solar system. As part of this funding we will continue to pursue the new developments that will help future generations of planetary scientists gain clearer insights into the history of our solar system and ourselves.