Introduction: Discovery of unknown molecules in new planets
In the space of stars and stars, scientists have found molecules in the dust they were born that have never been seen before in space.
The discovery of legendary signals in dense stellar clouds of star formation marks the first discovery in space of a specific species of molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — and it could help finally unravel the mystery of how and where these molecules formed.
Brett McGuire, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: "We've always thought that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons form primarily in the atmospheres of dying stars, but in this study, we found them in cold clouds where stars haven't even started forming yet." ”
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are not uncommon. On Earth, they appear frequently, very commonly. They can be found in crude oil – organisms that die by squeezing form in hot environments, such as zooplankton and algae; and plants that die by squeezing form in high temperatures.
The origin of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can also be abiotic – in fact, as far as we know, most polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the universe come from abiotic. Previous analyses have shown that in the Milky Way, between stars like our own, about 15 percent of the carbon is trapped in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — most of which are free in the interstellar medium between stars.
However, all we get is a whole signal that tells us that the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are there, rather than those individual molecules that can be found in interstellar gas.
"For the first time now, we now have a direct window into their chemistry, which will allow us to study in detail how this vast reservoir of carbon reacts and evolves through the process of star and planet formation," McGuire said. ”
The team's research focused on the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1), which sounds like what it looks like— a cold, dense molecular cloud in Taurus about 430 light-years away.
As part of tracking aromatic molecules, an observation project called gotham-Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1), the team has been searching for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in interstellar clouds for some time.
Molecular clouds are where small stars are born, and when a dense mass of gas is spinning, it collapses under its own gravity, winding more material from the surrounding clouds onto itself.
However, what the team found in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1) was not what the model predicted. Obviously, some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are to be expected, but the observed abundance is much higher than expected.
The paper published today in the journal Science details the detection of 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene, but in other papers by McGuire and his colleagues in recent months, they have revealed the great wealth they discovered using data stacking techniques: cyanobutyne diyne (HC4NC*), benzonitrile, propyne cyanide, cyanotectane (HC11N), cyanocyclopentadiene, 2-cyanocyclopentadiene, trans-cyanoacetylene, and vinyl cyanoacetylene.
"We stumbled upon a whole new set of molecules, which is unlike anything we've been able to detect before, and that will revolutionize our understanding of how these molecules interact," McGuire said. It has downstream effects, and when these molecules become large enough that they become seeds of interstellar dust, these molecules have the potential to affect the composition of asteroids, comets and planets, the surfaces of ice, and possibly even in turn the position of planets forming in star systems. ”
The team doesn't yet know how 1-cyanonaphthalene and 2-cyanonaphthalene enter the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1), and none of their models can account for their contents. The two possibilities are that it was formed there, or that it was transported there, or both.
However, now that the probe is complete, we know it's there. Scientists can start trying to figure out that part. We know it's there; we know it has to get there somehow; it's only a matter of time before we figure out what's left.
The discovery also suggests that the chemical properties of molecular clouds may be richer and more complex than we thought, while also providing us with a new tool to understand our universe.
Astronomer Michael M. Thompson of the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard McCarthy said, "It's amazing that these observations, these discoveries, these molecules, have not been studied carefully, or studied carefully enough. It all makes you wonder what else we haven't found. ”
The study has been published in the journal Science.
Note: HC4NC does not currently have an official name, "cyanobutadiyne" is one of the more acceptable names. Based on this, I also named it "Interstellar Cyanide"
BY: Dendi
FY: Glen Li
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