All articles tagged with #space chemistry
Astronomers have found widespread organic molecules in space, including in comets, asteroids, and interstellar dust, suggesting that the ingredients for life were present in the early solar system and could have been delivered to Earth, influencing the emergence of life. This discovery highlights the deep space origins of life's building blocks but does not prove life began there.
Scientists have tentatively detected molecules that are precursors to sugars and amino acids in the disk of dust around a young star, V883 Orionis, suggesting that complex organic molecules can form early in star and planet formation, inherited from earlier molecular clouds, and potentially contributing to the origins of life.
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 the largest aromatic molecule, cyanocoronene, in interstellar space within the Taurus molecular cloud, doubling the size of previous records and suggesting complex organic chemistry occurs even before star formation, with implications for understanding the origins of organic molecules in the universe.
Complex organic molecules, which serve as the building blocks of life, may have formed on tiny grains of dust in the cold vacuum of space, according to a new study. These dust grains, enriched with carbon atoms, react with frozen water to create simple molecules containing carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. These molecules then combine and react with other elements and molecules in the dust, forming more complex organic molecules. The findings suggest that the conditions of deep space alone can generate the necessary complexity for life to emerge.