All articles tagged with #interstellar clouds
Approximately 4.5 million years ago, the Sun nearly intersected with two bright stars in Canis Major, whose intense radiation likely caused a ghostly, irradiated 'scar' in our galaxy's local interstellar medium, helping explain the current high ionization levels of helium around our solar system.
Scientists have synthesized methanetetrol, a highly unstable 'super alcohol' theorized to exist in deep space, by recreating interstellar conditions in the lab. This discovery suggests complex chemistry occurs in space, opening new avenues for understanding cosmic molecules and the potential origins of life, although detecting such molecules in space remains challenging due to their instability.
Scientists have discovered two nitrile-containing molecules, malononitrile and maleonitrile, in the Taurus molecular cloud, an interstellar region near Earth. These molecules are significant because they are precursors in the synthesis of purines and pyrimidines, essential components of RNA and DNA, suggesting complex chemical processes in space that may relate to the origins of life. The findings highlight the active chemical nature of interstellar clouds and the challenges in modeling the formation of newly discovered molecules.