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In deep space, astronomers spot precursor of carbon based life
- napsterbr 3y agoCan someone enlighten me on how it's possible for a space telescope to detect far away molecules? I suppose it's not actually seeing the molecules themselves, but something that proves the molecules are there. The article mentions: > UV rays [...] provided the energy to form the molecules Is that it? The telescope detected UV rays, which necessarily (according to the scientists) correlates to the creation of methyl cations?
- Georgelemental 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_spectrum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_spectrum https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/instruments/miri.html https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/instruments/miri.h... In short, the CH3+ emits light at a very specific wavelength, which can be detected.
- jen729w 3y agoWhich isn’t really surprising/weird because all light is emitted by something. That something has a signature thanks to physics: the photons of light are emitted according to the structure of the atom. Basically. Of course it’s a tad more nuanced. Emitted light has a signature, and things that absorb light can also impart their own signature.
- zelphirkalt 3y agoWell, the simple fact, that light is emmitted does not necessarily imply, that the signature must be unique or very specific to any molecule. That is something with probably a way more complicated explanation, if one wants to dig deeper. I suspect something something quantum will also play a role, so probably without studying physics not properly understandable in depth.
- danbruc 3y agoI would have assumed that they detected this by the absorption spectrum imprinted on the spectrum of the star, not as the emission spectrum of the cloud itself.
- hsjqllzlfkf 3y agoSomeone else already gave you the answer, but I think this is a better link https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopy > Spectroscopy is a branch of science concerned with the spectra of electromagnetic radiation as a function of its wavelength or frequency measured by spectrographic equipment, and other techniques, in order to obtain information concerning the structure and properties of matter
- verisimi 3y agoEasy. It's a very good telescope! Er, microscope. Both!
- abrookewood 3y agoIt is insane to imagine that we can detect light emitted by molecules that are 1,350 light years away ... just amazing.
- hackernoteng 3y agosure we can... assumptions on top of assumptions on top of assumptions.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- danbruc 3y agoIt is probably the light of a star filtered by a cloud containing methyl ions. Still impressive that we can figure out in quite some detail what kind of stuff is flying around at the other end of the universe.
- prox 3y agoIt’s 1350ly , which is like cosmically on our doorstep. Source : Space Engine, Elite Dangerous. But I am being pedantic, it’s indeed impressive what we can figure out.
- danbruc 3y agoI meant spectroscopy in general, not this particular instance.
- Dalewyn 3y ago>Elite Dangerous I would die Friendship Driving 1.3k lightyears across, even with an exploration ship geared for 70~80 lightyears of jump range. No, I haven't been to Colonia. Yet.
- prox 3y agoI have done it with a Krait Phantom with 65ly, did about 5k before space madness settled in. Then I got my Carrier. This takes 45 minutes (3 x 15 min) If you really just want to get to the engineers you could also book a ride on a FCOC carrier and get out at Colonia!
- Dudester230602 3y agoI will start caring when they will start publishing images. At least Hubble was inspirational to so many people. But Webb will give some western scientists tenured positions or something, which is also cool I guess.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoThere are lots of images published based on JWST data.
- zelphirkalt 3y agoEvery time I looked at any website linked in HN post's comments or the posts themselves, I have been disappointed by what I saw. Either a completely shitty website, that would not start showing any pictures without allowing the equivalent of tons in JS scripts, or just "artist impressions" or just articles talking about the pictures, or just something that does not tell me how things would look like, if I was hovering in space looking at them. Where is that great website with beautiful pictures? Please link!
- zyl1n 3y agohttps://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/albums/72177720305127361 https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/albums/72177... https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/albums/72177720301006030 https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/albums/72177...
- zelphirkalt 3y agoflickr links? That cannot be the best they are able to do, can it? Don't they have their own website, where I can simply go and look at the images? I wouldn't consider a flickr album to be proper publishing by a project like James Webb telescope. With all the billions of cash in that, were they not able to make a proper website? But at least links, I guess. With pictures. If that is the best that exists, OK sad. But at least something, so thanks.
- beeforpork 3y agoWhy is this a thing today? There are many complex molecule clouds floating around in space. More complex stuff than methyl has been found. Searching quickly to refresh my memory, they found formic acid in 1990: https://europepmc.org/article/med/11538681 https://europepmc.org/article/med/11538681 and amino acetonitrile in 2008: https://www.mpg.de/567495/pressRelease20080325 https://www.mpg.de/567495/pressRelease20080325 By the title of this article, I would have guessed they found, say, an amino acid. Which is also already speculated and expected, but has possibly not yet been detected before. But methyl seems a bit trivial to me, or is the detection of it special and interesting in some other ways? I am not at all an expert, only quite interested.
- Aerbil313 3y agoYeah, same. Methyl? That’s so simple it ought to be everywhere.
- sfn42 3y agoIt's less about what's worthy of a headline and more about what's likely to collect clicks. Feels like >50% of "science news" is just some unimportant study or minor discovery being exaggerated and touted as some big breakthrough.
- passwordoops 3y agoI forgot where I read somewhere recently that science journalism comes down to: -cure for cancer -wine/chocolate is good/bad for you -all of physics is wrong -aliens! (depending on the zeitgeist)
- jmclnx 3y agoWith all the UFO crazy going on in the US, I guess the recycled an article to get more clicks. And who says recycling is not happening these days :)
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
- Simon_O_Rourke 3y agoI wonder how you can scale up this kind of survey, i.e., is there much manual analysis astronomers need to do to verify the emission spectrum. It'd be awesome to be in a position that the JWST could zip through a survey of these. And to be flippant, if you ever drive through Jersey City you can spot plenty of precursors to carbon-based life too.
- dustypotato 3y agoThere's some form of detection of organic matter or water or something vague in the direction of life every two weeks. I don't see how this is important
- pfdietz 3y agoNext I expect them to say detection of atoms, which are a precursor of life.
- Octokiddie 3y agoThe article is misleading, making it seem as if methyl cation, the species observed, were an essential component of life. It's not. > Astronomers wielding the James Webb Space Telescope have detected methyl cations – important precursor molecules needed to create proteins and DNA and therefore fundamental to carbon-based life forms. No study to date spells out a plausible path to abiogenesis - the creation of life from non-living chemical precursors. Without such a path, claims that any particular molecule is a "precursor of carbon based life" are suspect at best.
- biggestlou 3y agoI'm still looking for intelligent life on this planet