Space Telescope unveils the dark side of pre-stellar ice chemistry

Chameleon I hides a wealth of frozen molecules

25-Jan-2023 - The discovery of diverse ices in the darkest, coldest regions of a molecular cloud measured to date has been announced by an international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This result allows astronomers to examine the simple icy molecules that will be ...

Shedding light on comet Chury’s unexpected chemical complexity

The secret was hidden in the dust

07-Jul-2022 - A team of researchers led by the University of Bern has for the first time identified an unexpected richness of complex organic molecules at a comet. This was achieved thanks to the analysis of data collected during ESA’s Rosetta mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, also known as Chury. ...

Cosmic chemistry in the lab

Investigating the harsh environment of interstellar space in a FLASH

21-Feb-2022 - Using DESY's free-electron laser FLASH, scientists have recreated some of the harsh environment of interstellar space in the lab and analysed the reaction of astrochemical molecules to these conditions. The results show a comprehensive picture of the dynamics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ...

An ultrafast glimpse of the photochemistry of the atmosphere

15-Oct-2019 - Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have explored the initial consequences of the interaction of light with molecules on the surface of nanoscopic aerosols. The nanocosmos is constantly in motion. All natural processes are ultimately determined by the interplay between ...

How acids behave in ultracold interstellar space

12-Jun-2019 - Solvated acids tend to release a proton. However, they display more complex behaviour under space conditions. Bochum-based researchers from the Cluster of Excellence Ruhr Explores Solvation (Resolv), together with cooperation partners from Nijmegen, have investigated how acids interact with water ...

First astrophysical detection of the helium hydride ion

23-Apr-2019 - HeH+ was the first molecule that formed when, almost 14 billion years ago, falling temperatures in the young Universe allowed recombination of the light elements produced in the Big Bang. At that time, ionized hydrogen and neutral helium atoms reacted to form HeH+. Despite its importance in the ...

Recreating interstellar ions with lasers

07-Jul-2017 - Trihydrogen, orH3+, has been called the molecule that made the universe, where it plays a greater role in astrochemistry than any other molecule. WhileH3+ is astronomically abundant, no scientist understood the mechanisms that form it from organic molecules. Until now. Using lasers, Michigan ...

Ring of complex organic molecules around newborn star discovered

01-Jul-2016 - Astronomers have long known that organic molecules form in diffuse gas clouds floating between stars. It is thought that as the Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago, some of these organic molecules were transported from interstellar space to the planet forming disk. Later, these molecules ...

Cosmochemists find evidence for unstable heavy element at solar system formation

08-Mar-2016 - University of Chicago scientists have discovered evidence in a meteorite that a rare element, curium, was present during the formation of the solar system. This finding ends a 35-year-old debate on the possible presence of curium in the early solar system, and plays a crucial role in reassessing ...

New cool phase of superionic ice

23-Oct-2015 - Scientists have predicted a new phase of superionic ice, a special form of ice that could exist on Uranus and Neptune, in a theoretical study performed by a team of researchers at Princeton University. "Superionic ice is this in-between state of matter that we can't really relate to anything we ...