Frozen ethanol and acetic acid have been observed around two young stars.
Organic molecules like these are important ingredients in building the building blocks of life and the discovery, based on observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, indicates that they could gather in comets or asteroids and lead to the formation of planets capable of hosting life.
The result is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and is due to the international research group led by Will Rocha, from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
"This discovery helps answer one of the oldest questions in astrochemistry: what is the origin of complex organic molecules in space?", Rocha said.
Complex organic molecules are a very varied group of more or less large molecules that are absolutely necessary for the development of life. For several decades, traces of them have been discovered in space, in particular in the clouds that envelop the stars in formations and which will soon bring also to the formation of planets.
Molecules of this type had already been observed in stellar clouds, but they were found among hot gases.
Now the Webb telescope has seen for the first time a mix of organic molecules in the interstellar ice surrounding two protostars.
In addition to ethanol and acetic acid, formic acid, methane, formaldehyde and sulfur dioxide were observed.
Precisely their icy condition represents an important element because it would confirm the possibility that organic molecules can collect in comets and asteroids.
It is believed that the fall of objects like these to Earth, during the formation phases, may have played a key role in the appearance of life on our planet.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA