Author Topic: The first type of molecule to form in the universe has been seen in space  (Read 583 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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Science News  By Maria Temming April 17, 2019

Not long after the Big Bang, chemistry as we know it took its first baby steps


CHEMICAL RELIC  The elusive helium hydride ion, thought to be the first type of molecule to
form in the universe, has been found in the planetary nebula NGC 7027
(shown in infrared light in this Hubble image).

Helium hydride ions, thought to be the first type of molecule to form in the universe, have finally been spotted in space.

These charged molecules, each made of a neutral helium atom and a positively charged hydrogen atom, first emerged within about 100,000 years after the Big Bang. Back then, the universe was composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, and helium hydride was the only molecule that these two elements could create when they collided.

Although researchers have seen helium hydride ions in the lab, these molecules have never been definitively detected in space. The discovery of helium hydride in a nearby planetary nebula ends a decades-long search for these seminal molecules and helps confirm our understanding of chemistry in the infant universe, researchers report online April 17 in Nature.

During three flights in May 2016, the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy observed a planetary nebula about 3,000 light-years away called NGC 7027. This shell of stellar material was blown off a sunlike star when its core collapsed into a white dwarf about 600 years ago. In the light emitted by the hot, dense cloud of gas, researchers detected helium hydride’s signature wavelength of infrared radiation.

More: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/first-type-molecule-form-universe-has-been-seen-space