Prof. Chandra N. Wickramasinghe Profile

Prof. Chandra N. Wickramasinghe

Director of Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology at Univ of Buckingham

SPIE Involvement:

Editor | Author

Publications (26)

Proceedings Article | 28 September 2015 Paper

Ocean in Enceladus enhances the case for Panspermia

Chandra Wickramasinghe, Milton Wainwright, Gensuke Tokoro, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 9606, 96061R (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2222098

KEYWORDS: Water, Liquids, Comets, Solar system, Microorganisms, Organisms, Pluto, Saturn, Astrobiology, Bacteria

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Proceedings Article | 21 September 2015 Paper

The beginnings of life as a cosmic phenomenon

N. Wickramasinghe

Proceedings Volume 9606, 960602 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2192889

KEYWORDS: Comets, Molecules, Astrobiology, Polymers, Solar system, Clouds, Defense systems, Molecular biology, Stars, Planets

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Proceedings Article | 11 September 2015 Paper

Microbiological investigation of two chondrite meteorites: Murchison and Polonnaruwa

Elena Pikuta, Zhe Lyu, William Whitman, Geneviev LaBrake, Jamie Wallis, Keerthi Wickramarathne, N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 9606, 96060M (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2191203

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Minerals, Contamination, Nitrogen, Microscopy, Soil contamination, Microorganisms, Bacteria, Pluto, Hydrogen

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Proceedings Article | 26 September 2013 Paper

Physical, chemical, and mineral properties of the Polonnaruwa stones

Jamie Wallis, N. Wickramasinghe, Daryl Wallis, Nori Miyake, M. Wallis, Richard Hoover, Anil Samaranayake, Keerthi Wickramarathne, Anthony Oldroyd

Proceedings Volume 8865, 886508 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2029607

KEYWORDS: Glasses, Silica, Crystals, Quartz, Oxygen, Statistical analysis, Minerals, Scanning electron microscopy, Absorption, Titanium dioxide

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We report on the physical, chemical and mineral properties of a series of stone fragments recovered from the North Central Province of Sri Lanka following a witnessed fireball event on 29 December 2012. The stones exhibit highly porous poikilitic textures comprising of isotropic silica-rich/plagioclase-like hosts. Inclusions range in size and shape from mm-sized to smaller subangular grains frequently more fractured than the surrounding host and include ilmenite, olivine (fayalitic), quartz and accessory zircon. Bulk mineral compositions include accessory cristobalite, hercynite, anorthite, wuestite, albite, anorthoclase and the high pressure olivine polymorph wadsleyite, suggesting previous endurance of a shock pressure of ~20 GPa. Further evidence of shock is confirmed by the conversion of all plagioclase to maskelynite. Here the infrared absorption spectra in the region 580 cm^-1 to 380 cm^-1 due to the Si-O-Si or Si-O-Al absorption band shows a partial shift in the peak at 380 cm^-1 towards 480 cm^-1 indicating an intermediate position between crystalline and amorphous phase. Host matrix chemical compositions vary between samples, but all are rich in SiO₂. Silica-rich melts display a heterogeneous K-enrichment comparable to that reported in a range of non-terrestrial material from rare iron meteorites to LL chondritic breccias and Lunar granites. Bulk chemical compositions of plagioclase-like samples are comparable to reported data e.g. Miller Ranger 05035 (Lunar), while Si-rich samples accord well with mafic and felsic glasses reported in NWA 1664 (Howardite) as well as data for fusion crust present in a variety of meteoritic samples. Triple oxygen isotope results show Δ¹⁷O = -0.335 with δ¹⁸O (‰ rel. SMOW) values of 17.816 ± 0.100 and compare well with those of known CI chondrites and are within the range of CI-like (Meta-C) chondrites. Rare earth elemental abundances show a profound Europium anomaly of between 0.7 and 0.9 ppm while CI normalized REE patterns accord well with those of high potassium and high aluminium glasses found in lunar and 4 Vesta samples. Twoelement discrimination maps of FeO vs SiO₂, FeO vs TiO₂, FeO vs Al₂O₃ and FeO vs Na₂O similarly match those of impact glasses present in lunar samples and remain within relatively close proximity of the KREEP component. Iridium levels of between 1-7ppm, approximately 104 times that of terrestrial crustal rocks, were detected in all samples.

Proceedings Article | 26 September 2013 Paper

Fossilized diatoms in meteorites from recent falls in Sri Lanka

Richard Hoover, Jamie Wallis, Keerthi Wickramarathne, Anil Samaranayake, George Williams, Gregory Jerman, D. Wallis, N. Wickramasinghe

Proceedings Volume 8865, 886506 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2028605

KEYWORDS: Oceanography, Comets, Water, Ocean optics, Scanning electron microscopy, Silica, Spine, Minerals, Magnetic resonance imaging, Microorganisms

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Proceedings Article | 26 September 2013 Paper

Biological entities isolated from the stratosphere (22-27km): case for their space origin

Milton Wainwright, Christopher Rose, Alexander Baker, N. Chandra Wickramasinghe

Proceedings Volume 8865, 88650L (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2047304

KEYWORDS: Stratosphere, Particles, Bacteria, Scanning electron microscopy, Atmospheric particles, Electron microscopes, Organisms, Fungi, Microorganisms, Contamination

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Proceedings Article | 13 November 2012 Paper

Comets as parent bodies of CI1 carbonaceous meteorites and possible habitats of ice-microbes

N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Janaki Wickramasinghe, Jamie Wallis, Richard Hoover, Alexei Rozanov

Proceedings Volume 8521, 85210Q (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.975979

KEYWORDS: Comets, Liquids, Minerals, Microorganisms, Molecules, Asteroids, Bacteria, Solar system, Fusion energy, Crystals

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Proceedings Article | 24 October 2012 Paper

Possible biological structures in the Tissint Mars Meteorite

Jamie Wallis, N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Daryl Wallis, Nori Miyake, Max Wallis, Barry Di Gregorio, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 8521, 85210R (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2013827

KEYWORDS: Mars, Iron, Scanning electron microscopy, Pyrite, Minerals, Particles, X-rays, Sensors, Carbon, Silicon

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Proceedings Article | 23 September 2011 Paper

Comets as parent bodies of CI1 carbonaceous meteorites and possible habitats of ice-microbes

N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Janaki Wickramasinghe, Jamie Wallis, Richard Hoover, Alexei Rozanov

Proceedings Volume 8152, 81520Z (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.898586

KEYWORDS: Comets, Minerals, Astrobiology, Current controlled current source, Molecules, Molecular biology, Asteroids, Liquids, Earth's atmosphere, Mode conditioning cables

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Recent studies of comets and cometary dust have confirmed the presence of biologically relevant organic molecules along with clay minerals and water ice. It is also now well established by deuterium/hydrogen ratios that the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites contain indigenous extraterrestrial water. The evidence of extensive aqueous alteration of the minerals in these meteorites led to the hypothesis that water-bearing asteroids or comets represent the parent bodies of the CI1 (and perhaps CM2) carbonaceous meteorites. These meteorites have also been shown to possess a diverse array of complex organics and chiral and morphological biomarkers. Stable isotope studies by numerous independent investigators have conclusively established that the complex organics found in these meteorites are both indigenous and extraterrestrial in nature. Although the origin of these organics is still unknown, some researchers have suggested that they originated by unknown abiotic mechanisms and may have played a role in the delivery of chiral biomolecules and the origin of life on Early Earth. In this paper we review these results and investigate the thermal history of comets. We show that permanent as well as transient domains of liquid water can be maintained on a comet under a plausible set of assumptions. With each perihelion passage of a comet volatiles are preferentially released, and during millions of such passages the comet could shed crustal debris that may survive transit through the Earth's atmosphere as a carbonaceous meteorite. We review the current state of knowledge of comets and carbonaceous meteorites. We also present the results of recent studies on the long-term viability of terrestrial ice-microbiota encased in ancient glacial ice and permafrost. We suggest that the conditions which have been observed to prevail on many comets do not preclude either survivability (or even the active metabolism and growth) of many types of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbial extremophiles-including algae, cyanobacteria, bacteria and archaea. It is argued that the chemical and morphological biomarkers detected on comets and carbonaceous meteorites can be explained by ancient microbial activity without the need to invoke unknown abiotic production mechanisms.

Proceedings Article | 10 September 2010 Paper

Bacterial morphologies in carbonaceous meteorites and comet dust

Chandra Wickramasinghe, Max Wallis, Carl Gibson, Jamie Wallis, Shirwan Al-Mufti, Nori Miyake

Proceedings Volume 7819, 781913 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.864736

KEYWORDS: Comets, Particles, Minerals, Carbon, Stratosphere, Microorganisms, Optical spheres, Scanning electron microscopy, Planets, Biology

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Proceedings Article | 7 September 2010 Paper

Evolution of primordial planets in relation to the cosmological origin of life

N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Jamie Wallis, Carl Gibson, Rudolph Schild

Proceedings Volume 7819, 78190D (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.876390

KEYWORDS: Clouds, Planets, Solids, Molecules, Hydrogen, Particles, Liquids, Stars, Chemistry, Plasma

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Proceedings Article | 7 September 2010 Paper

Growth and replication of red rain cells at 121°C and their red fluorescence

Rajkumar Gangappa, Chandra Wickramasinghe, Milton Wainwright, A. Santhosh Kumar, Godfrey Louis

Proceedings Volume 7819, 78190N (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.876393

KEYWORDS: Luminescence, Astronomy, Fluorescence spectroscopy, Image filtering, Beam splitters, Astrobiology, Microorganisms, Microscopes, Electron microscopes, Phase contrast

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Proceedings Article | 7 September 2010 Paper

Primordial planets, comets, and moons foster life in the cosmos

Carl Gibson, N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, Rudolph Schild

Proceedings Volume 7819, 781914 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.864734

KEYWORDS: Planets, Stars, Plasma, Galactic astronomy, Organisms, Astrobiology, Comets, Code division multiplexing, Explosives, Clouds

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Proceedings Article | 1 October 2007 Paper

Liquid water in comets: implications for astrobiology

J. Wickramasinghe, N. Wickramasinghe, W. Napier

Proceedings Volume 6694, 66940A (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.768445

KEYWORDS: Comets, Liquids, Aluminum, Clouds, Molecules, Astrobiology, Particles, Galactic astronomy, Iron, Microorganisms

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Proceedings Article | 1 November 2004 Paper

Astrobiology of comets

Richard Hoover, Elena Pikuta, Nalin Wickramasinghe, Max Wallis, Robert Sheldon

Proceedings Volume 5555, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.566496

KEYWORDS: Comets, Bacteria, Sun, Liquids, Solar system, Asteroids, Interfaces, Convection, Microorganisms, Astrobiology

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Proceedings Article | 10 February 2004 Paper

Bacteria in the stratosphere: confirmation of viable but noncultureable forms

Milton Wainwright, Nalin Wickramasinghe, J. Narlikar, P. Rajaratnam, Joy Perkins

Proceedings Volume 5163, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.512077

KEYWORDS: Bacteria, Stratosphere, Microorganisms, Contamination, Particles, Astrobiology, Organisms, Microscopes, Roads, Earth's atmosphere

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Proceedings Article | 10 February 2004 Paper

Panspermia 2003: new horizons

Nalin Wickramasinghe, Milton Wainwright, J. Wickramasinghe

Proceedings Volume 5163, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.515613

KEYWORDS: Comets, Bacteria, Ultraviolet radiation, Galactic astronomy, Solar system, Radiation effects, Microorganisms, Particles, Ionizing radiation, Spherical lenses

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Proceedings Article | 26 February 2003 Paper

Evidence for microorganisms in stratosphere air samples collected at a height of 41km

Milton Wainwright, Nalin Wickramasinghe, J. Narlikar, P. Rajaratnam

Proceedings Volume 4859, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.509505

KEYWORDS: Microorganisms, Stratosphere, Organisms, Optical filters, Bacteria, Contamination, Astrobiology, Particles, Scanning electron microscopy, Roads

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Proceedings Article | 26 February 2003 Paper

The expanding horizons of cosmic life

Nalin Wickramasinghe, J. Narlikar, J. Wickramasinghe, Milton Wainwright

Proceedings Volume 4859, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.459301

KEYWORDS: Galactic astronomy, Comets, Infrared radiation, Astronomy, Molecules, Biology, Bacteria, Spectroscopy, Absorption, Microorganisms

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Proceedings Article | 5 February 2002 Paper

Detection of living cells in stratospheric samples

Melanie Harris, Nalin Wickramasinghe, David Lloyd, J. Narlikar, P. Rajaratnam, Michael Turner, Shirwan Al-Mufti, Max Wallis, S. Ramadurai, Fred Hoyle

Proceedings Volume 4495, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454758

KEYWORDS: Microorganisms, Bacteria, Optical filters, Electron microscopy, Atmospheric particles, Roads, Stratosphere, Earth's atmosphere, Biological research, Statistical analysis

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Proceedings Article | 5 February 2002 Paper

Evidence of photoluminescence of biomaterial in space

Nalin Wickramasinghe, David Lloyd, J. Wickramasinghe

Proceedings Volume 4495, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454762

KEYWORDS: Luminescence, Astronomy, Clouds, Ultraviolet radiation, Comets, Chromophores, Planets, Galactic astronomy, Absorption, Light scattering

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Proceedings Article | 3 August 2001 Paper

Unity of cosmic life and the inevitability of evolved life forms

Nalin Wickramasinghe, Fred Hoyle

Proceedings Volume 4273, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.435358

KEYWORDS: Comets, Bacteria, Stars, Clouds, Genetics, Biology, Microorganisms, Planets, Ultraviolet radiation, Galactic astronomy

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 1998 Paper

Search for living cells in stratospheric samples

J. Narlikar, S. Ramadurai, Pushpa Bhargava, S. Damle, Nalin Wickramasinghe, David Lloyd, F. Hoyle, Daryl Wallis

Proceedings Volume 3441, (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.319844

KEYWORDS: Optical filters, Stratosphere, LCDs, Organisms, Atmospheric particles, Microorganisms, Comets, Statistical analysis, Mass spectrometry, Particles

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 1998 Paper

Panspermia in perspective

Nalin Wickramasinghe, F. Hoyle, Brig Klyce

Proceedings Volume 3441, (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.319845

KEYWORDS: Comets, Bacteria, Particles, Molecules, Microorganisms, Planets, Ultraviolet radiation, Data modeling, Astronomy, Stars

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 1998 Paper

Cosmological panspermia

Nalin Wickramasinghe, Fred Hoyle

Proceedings Volume 3441, (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.319846

KEYWORDS: Molecules, Galactic astronomy, Clouds, X-rays, Earth's atmosphere, Ultraviolet radiation, Infrared radiation, Explosives, Stars, Ionizing radiation

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