Photostability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in hydrated magnesium sulfate under Martian ultraviolet irradiation to assist organics detection on Mars.

ABSTRACT: The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument, which is mounted on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, detected Raman signals in spectral regions relevant to organics, plausibly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), co-located with sulfate minerals, in the Quartier abrasion of the Issole outcrop in the Jezero crater floor on Mars. In order to ascertain the plausibility of the organic origin of these signals, it is essential to determine whether organics can withstand the effects of ambient Martian ultraviolet (UV) radiation after they are exposed by the Perseverance's abrasion tool and prior to the analysis by SHERLOC. In this work, the stability under Martian-like UV irradiation of PAHs like 2,6-dihydroxynaphthalene and be

SUBMITTER: Alberini A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12627640 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature