Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Could Gamma radiation be used to destroy the chemical bonds between C & O2?

You need H

If you have a source of H, like H2O vapour, then yes, you will generate a chemical "soup" of HCN and HCN Polymers (crude amino acids). You MUST have a "cold trap" or cold zone where the complex products can be concentrated, before being zapped apart again.

This is the famous "Urey experiment" where Urey and Miller cooked an ammonia atmosphere mix with electric sparks and local heating to make complex organics. Many other mixtures also work, but create different outcomes depending if the mix is overall reducing, oxidising, or neutral.

If the whole thing is always hot, everywhere, you are simulating the photosphere of a star. Not much stays together for long, and the main constituent is ionised plasma.

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