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    polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons tagged posts

    First look at Ryugu Asteroid Sample reveals it is Organic-rich

    February 24, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This conceptual image illustrates the types of organic molecules found in the sample of asteroid Ryugu collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Organics are the building blocks of all known forms of terrestrial life and consist of a wide variety of compounds made of carbon combined with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and other atoms. However, organic molecules can also be created by non-living processes, such as chemical reactions in asteroids.
    Credits: NASA/JAXA/Dan Gallagher

    Asteroid Ryugu has a rich complement of organic molecules, according to a NASA and international team’s initial analysis of a sample from the asteroid’s surface delivered to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft...

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    Faint Galactic Glow: Intriguing Organic molecule Benzonitrile in interstellar space

    January 13, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    The aromatic molecule benzonitrile was detected by the GBT in the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1). Credit: B. McGuire, B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

    The aromatic molecule benzonitrile was detected by the GBT in the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1). Credit: B. McGuire, B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

    Astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope have made the first definitive interstellar detection of benzonitrile, an intriguing organic molecule that helps to chemically link simple carbon-based molecules and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This discovery is a vital clue in a 30-year-old mystery: identifying the source of a faint infrared glow that permeates the Milky Way and other galaxies.

    Astronomers had a mystery on their hands. No matter where they looked, from inside the Milky Way to distant galaxies, they observed a puzzling glow of infrared light...

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