A two-year survey of enormous interstellar dust clouds has turned up eight organic molecules in two different regions of space. One is a stellar nursery awash in light while the other is a cold, starless void.
The finding, detailed in the current issue of Astrophysical Journal, supports other recent studies suggesting molecules important for life commonly form in the gas and dust clouds that condense to form stars and planets.
While organic molecules do not necessarily mean life, what we’ve found hints at the possibility.
[O]ne of the molecules found in Sagittarius B2(N), called acetamide, contains a type of chemical bond important for linking together amino acids, the molecular building blocks of proteins.
Made up of 9 atoms, acetamide “is the largest molecule found in space that has that bond,” [Jan Hollis of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center] told SPACE.com.
The importance of this discovery adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests the chemistry for life exists all over the place.
The newfound molecules bring the total number of biologically-relevant molecules found in interstellar space to 141. Scientists have previously found benzene, a ring-shaped carbon molecule important for life on Earth, around stars and intact amino acids in meteorites that have crash-landed on Earth.
This further strengthens the case for extraterrestrial life.
Taken together, the findings suggest that the chemical ingredients necessary for life began taking shape long before our planet was formed.
Many scientists now accept the notion that ancient meteorites and comets helped jumpstart life on our planet by bringing a significant amount of water, organic molecules and even amino acids to early Earth.
After all, if it could happen here, and if we are increasingly finding such molecules throughout space…