Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted complex organic molecules swirling around two forming stars, hinting at where the building blocks of habitable planets originate.
"This finding contributes to one of the long-standing questions in astrochemistry," Rocha said in a statement."What is the origin of complex organic molecules, or COMs, in space? Are they made in the gas phase or in ices? The detection of COMs in ices suggests that solid-phase chemical reactions on the surfaces of cold dust grains can build complex kinds of molecules.
Some of the complex organics found in the ice have previously been found in warm gases around forming stars. According to the researchers, whose results will be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, this finding suggests that the compounds are the result of a solid transitioning directly into a gas without passing through a liquid phase — a process called sublimation.