Spectroscopy and viability of Bacillus subtilis spores after ultraviolet irradiation: implications for the detection of potential bacterial life on Europa.

One of the most habitable environments in the Solar System outside of Earth may exist underneath the ice on Europa. In the near future, our best chance to look for chemical signatures of a habitable environment (or life itself) will likely be at the inhospitable icy surface. Therefore, it is important to understand the ability of organic signatures of life and life itself to persist under simulated europan surface conditions.

Ultraviolet-stimulated fluorescence and phosphorescence of aromatic hydrocarbons in water ice.

A principal goal of astrobiology is to detect and inventory the population of organic compounds on extraterrestrial bodies. Targets of specific interest include the wealth of icy worlds that populate our Solar System. One potential technique for in situ detection of organics trapped in water ice matrices involves ultraviolet-stimulated emission from these compounds.