NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has detected a new carbon compound in space for the first time, a major feat in astronomy because this molecule helps in the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. The molecule, called methyl cation (CH3+), was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk called d203-506. The young star system is located 1,350 light-years away from Earth, in the Orion Nebula. A rotating circumstellar disk of dense gas surrounding a young, newly formed star is called a protoplanetary disk.
Carbon is the most important building block of organic matter, which forms the basis of all living organisms. This is why the discovery of this new carbon compound in space is an important achievement. The finding could help scientists understand not only the way life formed on Earth, but how life could potentially originate elsewhere in the universe. Webb is exploring the universe in diverse ways, including through the study of interstellar organic chemistry.
Webb detected methyl cation with the help of its exceptional sensitivity and spatial and spectral resolution. The world's most powerful space telescope detected a series of key emission lines from CH3+.
The study describing the findings was recently published in the journal Nature.
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Webb’s image explained
Webb captured a part of the Orion Nebula called the Orion Bar, using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). With the help of MIRI, the telescope has captured the young star system.
The region captured by NIRCam is one in which energetic ultraviolet light from the Trapezium Cluster — an open cluster of stars in the heart of the Orion Nebula — interacts with dense molecular clouds. Due to the energy of the radiation from the Trapezium Cluster, the Orion Bar is slowly becoming eroded. This stellar radiation profoundly impacts the molecules and chemistry in the protoplanetary disks that have formed around newborn stars in the Orion Bar.
Quoting Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel of the University of Paris-Saclay in France, one of the researchers involved in the study, a NASA statement said the detection not only validates the incredible sensitivity of Webb, but also confirms the postulated importance of CH3+ in Interstellar chemistry.
The star in the protoplanetary disk is being bombarded by ultraviolet radiation
The star surrounded by the protoplanetary disk is a small red dwarf, the smallest type of hydrogen-burning star. Strong ultraviolet light from nearby hot, young and massive stars bombards this red dwarf. Most planet-forming disks are subject to such intense ultraviolet radiation. This is because young stars have the tendency of developing in groups that include massive stars producing ultraviolet rays.
Ultraviolet radiation is usually expected to destroy complex organic molecules. However, the researchers predict that ultraviolet radiation may actually provide the necessary source of energy for CH3+ to form in the first place, instead of methane being broken down by ultraviolet radiation into methyl cation. After methyl cation is formed, it probably promotes additional chemical reactions to build more complex carbon molecules.
The researchers did not detect any signs of water in the protoplanetary disk, and found that its chemicals are different from those found in other protoplanetary disks.
According to NASA, Olivier Berné of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the lead author on the paper, said the fact that the chemicals found in the protoplanetary disk are different from those in other disks clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disk, and this can play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life.