Astronomers Discover Carbon Molecule Essential for Life in Space

For the first time ever, astronomers have discovered a carbon molecule in space that is believed to be a fundamental building block for all known life.

The molecule, called methyl cation (CH3+), was found in the Orion Nebula, which is about 1,350 light-years from Earth and belongs to our Milky Way galaxy.

The discovery was made using the James Webb Space Telescope, operated by NASA.

Webb detected the methyl cation in a protoplanetary disk (a rotating disk of dense gas and dust) called D203-506.

Astronomers have been searching for signs of these carbon compounds because they are the origin of all life.

Scientists have been looking for direct evidence of this carbon compound in space since the 1970s.

Chemists say the methyl cation helps form more complex carbon molecules.

NASA compares the role of methyl cation to a train station, where the molecule can stay for a while before heading off in one of many directions to react with other molecules.

"This discovery not only proves the amazing sensitivity of Webb, but it also confirms the central importance of methyl cation in interstellar chemistry," said study co-author Mary Allen Martin-Drumel, a researcher at the University of Paris-Saclay in France.

Sky News Arabia June 2023