Astronomers have discovered that the interstellar medium near star-forming regions is rich in tryptophan molecules. Tryptophan is one of the 20 key amino acids necessary for the functioning of living organisms on Earth.
Scientists used the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) to observe a star-forming region called IC 348 in the Perseus molecular cloud. When analyzing the spectrum in the infrared band, it was found that the unique spectral line characteristics of the tryptophan molecule. It has been shown that amino acids, an important raw material for the synthesis of complex protein molecules, are not only often found in meteorites, but also exist in disks of gas and dust around young stars.
This achievement motivates scientists to continue searching for other amino acid molecules here or in other star-forming regions.
Susana Iglesias-Groth, a scholar at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), one of the scientists who published the results, said it was very exciting, because the planet-forming region Gases may have a wide range of modules capable of building and synthesizing protein molecules on their own. This mechanism is likely to play a key role in the evolution of exoplanet organisms.
Compared with the solar system’s about 4.5 billion years old, IC 348 is very young, and it is still an open star cluster containing about 400 stars. It was formed about 2 to 3 million years ago and has a mass about 10,000 times that of the sun.
Within about 1,000 light-years of Earth, IC 348 is the closest star-forming region. Although it cannot be seen with the naked eye, it emits intense infrared rays. Iglesias Gross analyzed the infrared spectrum and found 20 spectral lines characteristic of tryptophan molecules in the region with a temperature of about 7°C.
▲ Artist’s drawing of IC 348 and its molecular structure of tryptophan. (Source: NASA/Spitzer Space Telescope)
Iglesias Gross used the Spitzer telescope to observe and analyze the spectrum before, and IC 348 discovered the basic substance that can form life: fullerene (C60), also known as buckyball.
Then, when observing the IC 348 open star cluster earlier this year, she found a dense molecular cloud “soup” containing hydrogen (H2), hydroxyl (OH), water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3) molecules, and Contains hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ethane (C2H6), hexatriyne (C6H2), and benzene (C6H6) molecules that can continue to synthesize complex organic molecules.
IC 348 appears to contain an abundance and diversity of molecules. The interesting thing is that these molecules were produced by the gas or disk of dust around the protostar. During planet formation, these molecules may be on the surface of planets, or asteroids sealed in dust disks, and these molecules may be carried to the surface of other planets through chaotic processes such as collisions with asteroids during planet formation.
When these molecules reach the planet, they may have the opportunity to intervene in the chemical substance conversion process of planetary evolution, synthesize complex proteins, and evolve organisms capable of exhibiting life phenomena.
Iglesias Gross said that next she will use the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to continue the unfinished work. JWST could help her more easily discover other amino acids, or more complex protein molecules, in star-forming regions. The research was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
(This article is sponsored by Taipei Planetarium Reprinted with authorization; the first image is the Perseus Molecular Cloud, source: NASA / JPL-Caltech)
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