Space molecules point to organic origins

17:16 09 January 04

The most complex molecules yet found in space have shown astronomers how
such organic matter is created. The evidence points to a rare type of star
as the origin for life's building blocks.

Two hydrocarbon molecules called anthracene and pyrene occur in a nebula
called the Red Rectangle, 1000 light years from Earth, according to results
presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

A team led by Adolf Witt of the University of Toledo, Ohio, used telescopes
in Chile and Arizona to examine ultraviolet light emitted by the nebula, and
found the spectral signatures of these molecules.

The two molecules contain 24 and 26 atoms respectively, making them about
twice the size of the previous record holder, a molecular chain of 13 atoms.
They are made of linked rings of carbon atoms, and belong to a class of
molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). "If you see a
diesel truck in front of you blowing out black smoke, that is mostly PAHs"
notes Witt.

Molecule factory

There is evidence that huge quantities of PAHs exist in deep space, from the
infrared light they emit, and amino acids have been found in meteorites
landing on Earth. Organic molecules like these must have rained down on the
early Earth, and may have helped life to begin.

But the source of these complex molecules has been uncertain, but Witt is
now convinced that they originated in places like the Red Rectangle.

At the core of the nebula is a star about the mass of the Sun, but far
older. It is near the end of its life, going through a brief turbulent stage
in which convection currents dredge up carbon-rich material from deep within
the star.

Carbon and hydrogen get caught up in the stellar wind and blown out to form
the nebula, and as the gas cools, atoms collide to form larger and larger
molecules.

The discovery of anthracene and pyrene is strong evidence that this process
is really happening. And these two molecules are almost certainly far from
the biggest being built in the Red Rectangle.

"There is no limit - eventually this will form particles of a million atoms
or more," Witt told New Scientist. "We are looking into a factory for
organic molecules."

 Stephen Battersby, Atlanta

>From New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994552

Comment:
Creationists have had a hard time accepting our simian ancestors, now we
have to tell them we are descended from exhaust fumes...perhaps God was a
space-truck driver??

[moderator's note: Ixnay on the eationistcray aitingbay. - AHJay]

Kind Regards,
Robert Karl Stonjek.
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