Complex Organic Molecules Discovered in Infant Star System
Source: ESO
For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of complex organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in a protoplanetary disc surrounding a young star. The discovery, made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), reaffirms that the conditions that spawned the Earth and Sun are not unique in the Universe. The results are published in the 9 April 2015 issue of the journal Nature.
The new ALMA observations reveal that the protoplanetary disc surrounding the young star MWC 480 [1] contains large amounts of methyl cyanide (CH3CN), a complex carbon-based molecule. There is enough methyl cyanide around MWC 480 to fill all of Earths oceans.
Both this molecule and its simpler cousin hydrogen cyanide (HCN) were found in the cold outer reaches of the stars newly formed disc, in a region that astronomers believe is analogous to the Kuiper Belt the realm of icy planetesimals and comets in our own Solar System beyond Neptune.
Comets retain a pristine record of the early chemistry of the Solar System, from the period of planet formation. Comets and asteroids from the outer Solar System are thought to have seeded the young Earth with water and organic molecules, helping set the stage for the development of primordial life.
Read more: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1513/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EsoTopNews+%28ESO+Top+News%29
get the red out
(13,468 posts)Thanks for posting.
Romeo.lima333
(1,127 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,317 posts)"Complex" my ass. And "organic" only means it contains carbon atoms. Journos, ***PLEASE*** learn to restrain yourselves when reporting new crap about OMG LIFE IN SPACE !!