U-M astronomers Felipe Alarcón and Ted Bergin attempted to explore what potential molecule was emitting from a diverse assortment of previously known constituents. Specifically, the international team detected a feature from some unknown molecule near 7 microns in wavelength. The unique properties of JWST made it the ideal instrument to search for this crucial cation-and already, a group of international scientists have observed it with JWST for the first time. This little cation is significant enough that it has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now it has never been detected. This is due to a fascinating property of CH3+, which is that it reacts with a wide range of other molecules. CH3+ has been posited by scientists to be of particular importance since the 1970s and 1980s. The methyl cation (CH3+) is one such carbon-based ion. Molecular ions containing carbon are especially important because they react with other small molecules to form more complex organic compounds even at low interstellar temperatures. As such, interstellar organic chemistry is an area of keen fascination to astronomers who study the places where new stars and planets form. Astronomers were able to detect CH3+ with a cross-disciplinary expert analysis, including key input from laboratory spectroscopists.Ĭarbon compounds form the foundations of all known life, and as such are of a particular interest to scientists working to understand both how life developed on Earth, and how it could potentially develop elsewhere in our universe. The vital role of CH3+ in interstellar carbon chemistry was predicted in the 1970s, but JWST’s unique capabilities have finally made observing it possible-in a region of space where planets capable of accommodating life could eventually form.
This simple molecule has a unique property: it reacts relatively inefficiently with the most abundant element in our universe (hydrogen) but reacts readily with other molecules and therefore initiates the growth of more complex carbon-based molecules.Ĭarbon chemistry is of particular interest to astronomers because all known life is carbon-based. The molecule, known as the methyl cation (CH3+), was detected in the protoplanetary disk-a disk of dust rotating around a central star from which planets may be built-surrounding a young star. Study: Formation of the methyl cation by photochemistry in a protoplanetary diskĪn international team of scientists including University of Michigan astronomers have used data collected by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to detect for the first time a molecule critical to forming planetary systems that can sustain life. This graphic shows the area in the center of the Orion Nebula, which lies about 1,350 light years from Earth, that the team studied. An international team of scientists have used data collected by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to detect a molecule known as the methyl cation (CH3+) for the first time, located in the protoplanetary disc surrounding a young star.
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