Unexpected vital ingredients discovered 1,000 light years from Earth

The source of the raw materials needed to create a life-enhancing world like Earth was discovered in the Perseus Molecular Cloud, a young cluster of stars and gas in deep space.

The Perseus Molecular Cloud, aka IC348, contains very young stars between 2 and 3 million years old that have been explored by the research team led by Dr. Susan Iglesias-Groth of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC – Spain) thanks to the observations of the NASA’s Ѕpitzer telescope.

Molecules important for life have been discovered in the molecular cloud of Perseus

The key molecules to create life have been found in Perseus’ molecular cloud 1,000 light years from Earth – (Image: AC).

According to Space, the amazing spectrum that the late Spitzer obtained from Perseus’ molecular cloud revealed amazing components, namely the presence of hydrogen, hydroxyl, water, carbon dioxide and dimers. ammonia.

These may play a role in the formation of more complex hydrocarbons and prebiotic molecules, including hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ethane (Ϲ2H6), hexatrin (Ϲ6H2), and benzene (Ϲ6H6).

Furthermore, they also discovered a kind of giant carbon molecule called fullerenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

This complex molecular makeup means that this cloud contains the elements necessary for the infant stars it spawns to have a chance of creating an Earth-like world.

These molecules will enter the composition of stars with the formation of protoplanetary disks, also hinting at how the first building blocks of life appeared on Earth.

The team intends to continue observing this interesting molecular cloud with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb (US, European and Canadian space agencies) Super Telescope, which promises to reveal more optical detail and clearer chemical composition. of the cloud.

The study has just been published in a scientific journal Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.

Article source: MTN