An international team led by the Spanish Center of Astrobiology (CAB) has discovered carbon dioxide in space, the first interstellar molecule with more than three oxygen atoms.
The finding will help understand interstellar chemistry, which could have played a critical role in the origin of life.
The main theories explaining the origin of life are: They are based on the development of prebiotic chemistry that took place during the early stages of our planet’s formation.
It is believed that a fundamental part of the prebiotic ingredients could have reached a young Earth aboard comets and meteorites formed in the nebula where the solar system was born.
Understanding which prebiotic molecules are present in the interstellar medium, the birth material that will form new stars and planets, could be critical to understanding how life on our planet may have originated.
In recent years it has been suggested that carbon dioxide may be present in various objects in the solar system, such as the icy moons of Jupiter, the north pole of Mercury, or even on the surface and atmosphere of Mars, but so far there is no found evidence confirming its alien existence.
The multidisciplinary team led by Miguel Sanz-Novo, researcher Margarita Salas at the Center for Astrobiology (CAB, CSIC-INTA) has demonstrated the presence of carbon dioxide in space.
This molecule is the first interstellar molecule to contain three oxygen atoms in its structure and also the third carboxylic acid detected in the interstellar medium to date, after formic acid (identified in the ISM in 1971) and acetic acid (detected in 1997).
The team found the molecule in the role of our Milky Way, in the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027.
“Aerospace is a wonderful laboratory. We were able to detect several pairs of completely pure and bright spectroscopic signals directly in the radio astronomical data. unequivocally confirmed the presence of carbonic acid in the interstellar medium and even complete its experimental characterization,” says Sanz-Novo.
The discovery of this acid confirms that the chemical processes taking place in interstellar regions are more complex and diverse than previously thought.
“Our observations let us know that carbon dioxide, previously invisible to our eyes, is relatively abundant in space, making it an essential part of understanding the interstellar chemistry of carbon and oxygen. two of the fundamental chemical elements in any prebiotic process,” said Víctor M. Rivilla, CAB researcher and co-author of the paper.
“This result confirms that the path we have chosen is the right one to search for and detect more molecules that we suspect were key to the origin of life on our planet,” he concludes. (JO)
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