Astronomers have announced the first detection outside the Solar System of a complex form of carbon, which could help shed light on the origins of life as we know it.
A first extrasolar detection
The monoxide of carbone is the second most abundant molecule in our galaxy, but we do not know precisely how it is transformed into more complex carbon compounds. If, over the years, analysis of samples from asteroids such as Ryugu has revealed the presence of molecules with stronger carbon bonds, reinforcing the idea that they were transported to our planet by these space rocks, their original source remains unclear.
Recently, Brett McGuire of MIT and his colleagues looked at the Taurus molecular cloud, a star-forming region located 430 light years away. By analyzing data from the Green Bank Observatory in Virginia, they detected the radio signature of cyanopyrene, considered an intermediate between carbon monoxide and complex carbon molecules essential for vie on Earth.
« This molecular cloud is extremely cold [-263 °C environ]which implies that these are molecules well before the formation of a star », underline the authors of the new study, published in the journal Science.
Assuming that other molecular clouds also have high concentrations, this unprecedented detection outside the Solar System suggests that cyanopyrene is extremely abundant and potentially constitutes one of the largest chemical reservoirs of complex carbon in theUniverse.
Vast implications
According to Martin McCoustra of the British Heriot-Watt University, the observation of complex carbon molecules within such an environment offers valuable clues about the chemical reactions and pathways capable of giving rise to the constituent elements of terrestrial organisms, such as nucleic acids.
« By identifying the mechanisms by which these molecules form and are transported throughout the cosmos, we learn more about the Solar System and the life it supports. », concludes Ilsa Cooke, co-author of the new study.
Last year, astronomers made a strange discovery at the edge of the Solar System.
