The 15-micrometer wavelength image was taken by the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and shows a region near a protostar known as IRAS 23385. IRAS 23385 and IRAS 2A (not visible in this image) are the recent targets of an international team of astronomers, which used the Webb telescope to discover that there are potential habitable worlds in early protostars that have not yet formed planets. The key factor. (NASA, ESA, CSA, W. Rocha, Leiden University)
[The Epoch Times, March 17, 2024](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Li Yan) According to the United States Space Administration (NASA), astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe two young stars around A variety of chemicals common on Earth have been detected, which may help them understand the possibility of habitable worlds beyond Earth.
They used the Webb Space Observatory’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to observe complex organic molecules (COMs), including acetic acid (a component of vinegar) and ethanol (also known as alcohol).
The team also discovered simple formic acid molecules, which cause the burning sensation when ants bite them, as well as sulfur dioxide, methane and formaldehyde.
The newly detected molecular compounds were found in interstellar ice around two protostars, or young stars that have not yet formed planets, IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385. Stars form from rotating clouds of gas and dust, and planets are created from leftover material from the star formation process.
Based on previous research, the protostar IRAS 23385 is estimated to be located in the Milky Way, 15,981 light-years away from Earth.
This new observation has astronomers curious because molecules detected around stars may be key ingredients in potentially habitable worlds that could be incorporated into planets that may eventually form around stars.
Astronomers have long explored just how common the elements needed for life are in the universe.
Searching for complex organic molecules in space
Detecting complex organic molecules in space helps astronomers determine the origins of these and other larger cosmic molecules.
Previously, scientists used the Webb telescope to discover various ices composed of different elements in cold, dark molecular clouds. Molecular clouds are interstellar clumps of gas and dust in which hydrogen and carbon monoxide molecules can form. Dense clumps in these clouds collapse to form protostars.
Scientists believe that complex organic molecules are created by sublimation of ice in space, and the new Webb detection provides evidence for this theory.
“This discovery helps solve a long-standing problem in astrochemistry.” Will Rocha, leader of the James Webb Observation of Young Protostars+ (JOYS+) team and a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands Rocha said in a statement, “What is the origin of complex organic molecules in space? The detection of COMs in ice shows that solid-phase chemical reactions on the surface of cold dust particles can form complex molecules.”
A study detailing a new discovery of protostars has been“Astronomy and Astrophysics” Journal accepted for publication.
Astronomers believe that complex organic molecules trapped in cold ice could eventually become part of comets or asteroids. Comets or asteroids collide with planets and provide the ingredients that can support life.
“We look forward to gradually tracking this astrochemical trajectory using more Webb data in the coming years,” study co-author Ewine van Dishoeck, professor of molecular astrophysics at Leiden University, said in a statement .”
Editor in charge: Lin Yan#
