Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy is a useful laboratory and in situ technique for planetary exploration, with applications in biosignature detection and the search for life on Mars. However, little work has been completed on the utility of fluorescence spectroscopy techniques on asteroid relevant material. In preparation for asteroid sample return missions such as NASA's OSIRIS-REx and JAXA's Hayabusa2, we conducted UV time resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TR-LIF) analysis of 10 amino acids, all of which have been found in the carbonaceous meteorites Murchison and Allende. We present the calculation of decay rates of each amino acid (1.55–3.56 ns) and compare with those of relevant homogeneous minerals (15–70 ns). Moreover, we demonstrate a linear relationship between calculated lifetimes and elemental abundance of nitrogen and carbon (p < 0.025). The quantitative and qualitative fluorescence analyses presented in this work will lead to more reliable identification of organic material within meteorites and asteroids in a time-efficient, minimally destructive way.

中文翻译：

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陨石中氨基酸的紫外时间分辨激光诱导荧光光谱：对空间科学和探索的影响

激光诱导荧光光谱是一种有用的实验室和原位行星探索技术，在生物特征检测和火星上寻找生命方面的应用。然而，在小行星相关材料上应用荧光光谱技术的工作很少。为了准备 NASA 的 OSIRIS-REx 和 JAXA 的 Hayabusa2 等小行星样本返回任务，我们对 10 种氨基酸进行了紫外时间分辨激光诱导荧光光谱 (TR-LIF) 分析，所有这些氨基酸都在碳质陨石 Murchison 和阿连德。我们介绍了每种氨基酸（1.55-3.56 ns）的衰减率的计算，并与相关同质矿物（15-70 ns）的衰减率进行了比较。此外，我们证明了计算寿命与氮和碳元素丰度之间的线性关系（p < 0.025)。这项工作中提出的定量和定性荧光分析将以一种省时、破坏性最小的方式更可靠地识别陨石和小行星中的有机物质。