Investigating the Formation of Complex Organic Molecules in the Protosolar Nebula and Their Incorporation into the Galilean Moons

The outer solar system bodies, including the Galilean moons, are expected to have accreted carbonaceous material during their formation. This carbonaceous material is likely composed of Complex Organic Molecules (COMs), whose formation could have taken place in the protosolar nebula. During their journey through the disk, icy pebbles may have been exposed to different interstellar UV irradiation and temperature conditions, which could have led to the formation of COMs, as experimental studies under similar conditions have demonstrated.

Regarding the formation of the Galilean moons, several scenarios are possible. This study focuses on the formation of the moons in a cold circumplanetary disk, implying that the building blocks originating from the protosolar nebula are not altered by the circumplanetary disk, and their composition is determined solely by the thermodynamic conditions of the protosolar nebula.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the thermodynamic conditions in the disk were consistent with the formation of COMs in the environment where the Galilean moons formed. To achieve this, the following approach has been taken: 

•  two-dimensional model has been developed to compute the transport of particles within the protosolar nebula using a Lagrangian scheme. This model deduces the accumulated irradiation dose along the particles' paths.
• based on experimental data, the model demonstrates that a small fraction of particles consistently transports COMs within the Jupiter region.

By combining theoretical modeling and experimental data, this study aims to shed light on the potential formation and incorporation of COMs into the Galilean moons during the early stages of the solar system's evolution.