We too are stardust

Here is an interesting Scientific American article on the Murchison meteorite, and why I have unofficially dubbed it "The Biologist's Meteorite." Murchison was found to contain more than 70 amino acids, as well as other organics (purine and pyrimidine precursors) that may have provided the raw materials for life.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=murchison-meteorite

They say that you can actually smell the carbonaceous compounds in freshly-cut specimens. Well, I recently won an auction for one and will soon see for myself! Waiting for it to come in the mail is killing me!

Additionally, powdered samples of the Murchison meteorite, when heated up to 900°C, show strong similarities in their reflectance spectra to C- and G-type asteroids. G asteroids exhibit strong UV absorption, a good example being the large asteroid / dwarf planet 1 Ceres. C asteroids, additionally, are thought to be the parent bodies of the carbonaceous chondrites.

Here is another (BBC Science) article discussing organics found in the Tagish Lake and Murchison meteorites:

"Space Rock Yields Carbon Bounty"

Murchison