The Perseus Molecular Cloud, a juvenile collection of stars and gas in
outer space, is where the prebiotic compounds were discovered.
Astronomers have discovered chemicals that are thought to be the
fundamental building blocks for life in a "soup" of molecules in a far-off
star-forming nebula.
These compounds can help create amino acids, which are the building blocks
of genetic material and are thought to have been crucial for the emergence
of the first Earth-dwelling microbes.
The Perseus Molecular Cloud's IC348 star cluster is where the primordial
compounds were discovered. The cluster's stars are thought to be very
youthful, only 2 to 3 million years old. Our "middle-aged" solar is roughly
4.6 billion years old as a point of reference.
According to Susan Iglesias-Groth, a researcher at the Instituto de
Astrofsica de Canarias (IAC) and co-author of the
study, "[the cloud] is an extraordinary laboratory of organic chemistry."(opens
in new tab). These intricate pure carbon molecules frequently serve as the
building elements for the essential molecules of life.
One of the nearest active star-forming areas to our solar system is the 500
light-year wide Perseus Cloud, which is only 1,000 light-years
distant.
Within the cloud, star clusters contain many young stars that are encircled
by rings of gas and dust. The typical building elements of planetary
systems, such as planets, moons, asteroids, and comets, emerge in a process
akin to the one that once gave rise to our solar system within these
"protoplanetary disks" of dense clusters of material.
The discovery of prebiotic molecules at such a location and so near the
star cluster IC348 may suggest that juvenile planets accrete material that
includes molecules that ultimately aid in the creation of complicated
organic molecules.
The co-author of the study and researcher Martina Marin-Dobrincic said that
"these key molecules could have been supplied to the nascent planets in the
protoplanetary disks and could in this way help to produce there a route
towards the molecules of life."
Iglesias-Groth and the team also uncovered several carbon-based compounds
as well as molecular hydrogen (H2), hydroxyl (OH), water (H2O), carbon
dioxide (CO2), and ammonia (NH3) in the same cloud that fullerenes were
discovered in in 2019. The formation of more complicated hydrocarbons and
primordial molecules like hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ethane (C2H6), hexatrine
(C6H2), and benzene may be aided by these latter molecules. (C6H6).
Additionally, the group discovered additional fullerenes in the shape of
carbon-60 (C60) and carbon-70, as well as more complicated compounds like
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). (C70).
According to Iglesias-Gorth, "IC 348 appears to have a very rich and
diverse molecular content." We are seeing molecules in the diffuse
atmosphere where stars and protoplanetary disks are developing, which is
new.
Iglesias-Groth and Marin-Dobrincic made their finding using information
gathered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which is now retired. They plan
to continue their studies using the more potent James Webb Space Telescope.
(JWST).
It was noted by Iglesias-Groth that the JWST's spectroscopic capabilities
could "provide details about the spatial distribution of all these
molecules, and extend the present search to others which are more complex,
giving higher sensitivity and resolution which are essential to confirm the
very probable presence of amino acids in the gas in this and in other
star-forming regions."
