Why Raman Spectroscopy on Mars?—A Case of the Right Tool for the Right Job
Abstract
We provide a scientific rationale for the astrobiological investigation of Mars. We suggest that, given practical constraints, the most promising locations for the search for former life on Mars are palaeolake craters and the evaporite deposits that may reside within them. We suggest that Raman spectroscopy offers a promising tool for the detection of evidence of former (or extant) biota on Mars. In particular, we highlight the detection of hopanoids as long-lived bacterial cell wall products and photosynthetic pigments as the most promising targets. We further suggest that Raman spectroscopy as a fibre optic-based instrument lends itself to flexible planetary deployment.
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Raman spectroscopy has proved very successful in detecting complex biomolecules of microbial colonies in hostile environments on Earth and has the advantage of no requirement for reagents or sample preparation, although Raman scattering is photon-inefficient.
“Raman spectroscopy has proved to be very successful in detecting the complex biomolecules of microbial colonies in the most hostile environments on Earth, and has the advantage of no requirement for reagents or sample preparation, although Raman scattering is a photon-inefficient process (Ellery and Wynn-Williams, 2003; Jorge Villar and Edwards, 2006; Tarcea et al., 2008; Marshall et al., 2010).”
From The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 (2016) · cites this paper as Ellery and Wynn-Williams, 2003
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On the possibility of chemosynthetic ecosystems in subsurface habitats on Mars
Boston, P. J., Ivanov, M. V., & P. McKay, C. (1992) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/0019-1035(92)90045-9 · Cited by 325 · cited 2× · see citing works
“It is conceivable that such depths could support chemolithotrophic organisms (Boston et al ., 1992).”
Catling, D. C. (1999) · Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets · doi:10.1029/1998je001020 · Cited by 148 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Microbial communities in extreme Antarctic desert habitats analogous to those of early Mars indicate that these key bio-molecules can be detected in situ within the bio-chemical pool of mixed populations (Edwards et al ., 1997, 1999).”
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Domagal-Goldman, S. D., Wright, K. E., Domagal-Goldman, S. D., Wright, K. E., Adamala, K., Arina de la Rubia, L., Bond, J., Dartnell, L. R., Goldman, A. D., Lynch, K., et al. (2016) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1460 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
“…colonies in the most hostile environments on Earth, and has the advantage of no requirement for reagents or sample preparation, although Raman scattering is a photon-inefficient process (Ellery and Wynn-Williams, 2003; Jorge Villar and Edwards, 2006; Tarcea et al., 2008; Marshall et al., 2010).”
- Authors
- Ellery, A., & Wynn-Williams, D.
- Affiliations
- Kingston University London (GB)
- British Antarctic Survey (GB)
- ORCID
- Ellery, Alex
- Venue
- Astrobiology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2003-09
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 565-579
- ISSN
- 1531-1074 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-8070
- OpenAlex
- W2181192439
- Cited by
- 113
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 2.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Astrobiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Repository (Kingston University London) (submittedVersion)
- NERC Open Research Archive (Natural Environment Research Council) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Keywords
- Raman spectroscopy, Mars, search for life, evaporites, hopanoids, bacterial cell wall, photosynthetic pigments, planetary instrumentation
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Environment, Extraterrestrial Environment, Photosynthesis, Spectrum Analysis, Raman, Mars, Life
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