The Hunt for Alien Molecules

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T H E S C I E N C E S

The Hunt for Alien Molecules

Astrochemists are discovering many compounds in the cosmos that cannot exist on Earth By Clara Moskowitz on December 11, 2015

Horsehead nebula.

Credit: NASA/Hubble

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ASTRONOMERS OBSERVING THE HORSEHEAD NEBULA WITH A RADIO TELESCOPE IN SPAIN SAW THE CHEMICAL SIGNATURE OF A MYSTERY MOLECULE. THE TELESCOPE RETURNED SPECTROSCOPIC DATA—A LINE GRAPH REPRESENTING THE INTENSITY OF LIGHT COMING FROM THE NEBULA ACROSS A RANGE OF WAVELENGTHS. SHARP RISES IN THE LIGHT, SUCH AS THE FEATURE SHOWN HERE, INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF A SPECIFIC MOLECULE WHOSE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES ALLOW IT TO EMIT THAT PARTICULAR WAVELENGTH OF LIGHT. AFTER MUCH SLEUTHING RESEARCHERS WERE ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT THIS UNIDENTIFIED LINE FEATURE COMES FROM THE NEVERBEFORESEEN COMPOUND C3H+, WHICH EXISTS ONLY IN SPACE.

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