A ring of dust, gas and ice was found 444 light-years from Earth containing a large organic molecule that could one day go on to form life.
Astronomers have discovered the chemical, known as dimethyl ether, which is an essential building block for life, inside the planet made up of a disk around the young star IRS 48.
Over time, DME continues to form prebiotics, including amino acids and sugars, which are the foundations of life on Earth, according to the team from the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, who made the remarkable discovery.
The results suggest that these large particles may be present in the planets as they formed, as the world evolved around them as dust, gas and ice come together.
The team said that dimethyl ether consists of nine atoms, making it the largest complex organic molecule discovered within the planet-forming disk to date.
Finding such a chemical early in the formation process increases the chances of life developing elsewhere in the universe, they said, adding that it “could be widespread”.
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the researchers looked for different chemical signatures within the disk surrounding the young star.
Known as Oph –IRS 48, located in the constellation Ophiuchus, this star has a disk that has been extensively studied by astronomers, revolutionizing our understanding of how planets formed – and potentially reflecting how Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago.
Previously, other smaller organic molecules such as formaldehyde were found inside the disc. He urged researchers to see other objects hiding in the dust.
Dimethyl ether is known as a common organic molecule in star-forming clouds, but it has not previously been found in a planet-forming disk.
The researchers also made a tentative discovery of methyl formate, a complex molecule similar to dimethyl ether that is also a building block for larger organic molecules.
“From these results, we can learn more about the origin of life on our planet, and thus get a better idea of the possibility of life in other planetary systems,” says Nashanti Bronken, a master’s student at the Leiden Observatory.
Co-author Dr. Ninke van der Marel, from the Leiden Observatory, said: “Dimethyl ether is the largest molecule discovered in a planet-forming disk. It’s been seen before in cold star-forming clouds, but not yet in a planet-forming environment.
This means that such particles may end up on the planets directly as they form. The molecule is particularly important because it is a complex organic molecule,” which is the starting point for the macromolecules that form the building blocks of life through further chemical reactions.
IRS 48, seen in the southern sky when viewed from Earth, has a symmetrical “dust trap” in the shape of a cashew nut, which reflects the best theories about planetary formation.
Large numbers of millimeter-sized icy particles clump together, grow into comets, asteroids and even planets, and form in very cold environments before the stars themselves are even born.
Simple atoms and molecules such as carbon monoxide undergo chemical reactions to produce more complex molecules within this trap.
And nascent worlds can arise from the spinning balls that develop around a new nascent sun, inside these dust traps, and the results suggest that life particles existed from the beginning, rather than reaching a comet or asteroid.
Future studies of IRS 48 with ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in Chile and set to begin operations later this decade, will allow the team to study the chemistry of the disk’s interior. This is where rocky planets like Earth might form.
The James Webb Space Telescope can analyze the atmospheres of planets floating around the galaxy in unprecedented detail.
The results were published in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics.