With IRAM’s 30-meter telescope in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, they homed in on two portions of the horse’s mane in radio light....they were after spectra—readings of the light broken down into their constituent wavelengths, which reveal the chemical makeup of the nebula. Displayed on screen, the data looked like blips on a heart monitor; each wiggle indicated that some molecule in the nebula had emitted light of a particular wavelength.
Every molecule in the universe makes its own characteristic wiggles based on the orientation of the protons, neutrons and electrons within it.
Most of the wiggles in the Horsehead data were easily attributable to common chemicals such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and neutral carbon.
But there was also a small, unidentified line at 89.957 gigahertz. This was a mystery—a molecule completely unknown to science.
..... They concluded that the unknown species had to be a linear molecule—a compound whose atoms are arrayed in a straight chain. Only a certain type of linear molecule would produce the spectral pattern the chemists were seeing.
But there was also a small, unidentified line at 89.957 gigahertz. This was a mystery—a molecule completely unknown to science.
..... They concluded that the unknown species had to be a linear molecule—a compound whose atoms are arrayed in a straight chain. Only a certain type of linear molecule would produce the spectral pattern the chemists were seeing.
After working through lists of likely molecules, they hit on C3H+, propynylidynium. This molecular ion had never been seen before. In fact there was no proof it existed at all. If it could form, it would be highly unstable. On Earth it would almost immediately react with something else to transform into a more settled species.
But in space, where the pressure is low and molecules rarely run into anything else to bond with, C3H+ might just be able to survive.
The Horsehead Nebula is no aberration. Almost everywhere in the universe astronomers look—if they peer closely enough—they see unidentified spectral lines. The compounds we humans are familiar with, the species responsible for the huge diversity of materials on this planet, are just a fraction of those nature has created.
....in the case of C3H+, astrochemists might start with theory, using
clues from the spectrum to guess what molecule might be behind it. A technique called ab initio quantum chemistry (ab initio is Latin for “from the beginning”) allows scientists to start from pure quantum mechanics—the theory that describes the behavior of subatomic particles—to calculate a molecule’s properties based on the motions of the protons, neutrons and electrons in the atoms that comprise it.
.....The finds they have already turned up are a reminder that our own small corner of the cosmos is just that—an insignificant, and not necessarily representative, sample of what is possible. Perhaps the species we are familiar with on Earth are in fact the exotic ones, and the buckyballs, the Horsehead Nebula C3H+ and others still unknown are the ordinary stuff of the universe."
The Horsehead Nebula is no aberration. Almost everywhere in the universe astronomers look—if they peer closely enough—they see unidentified spectral lines. The compounds we humans are familiar with, the species responsible for the huge diversity of materials on this planet, are just a fraction of those nature has created.
....in the case of C3H+, astrochemists might start with theory, using
.....The finds they have already turned up are a reminder that our own small corner of the cosmos is just that—an insignificant, and not necessarily representative, sample of what is possible. Perhaps the species we are familiar with on Earth are in fact the exotic ones, and the buckyballs, the Horsehead Nebula C3H+ and others still unknown are the ordinary stuff of the universe."
ScientificAmerican
Here is the REAL ab initio quantum chemistry: In the beginning God created... Genesis 1:1
Here is the REAL ab initio quantum chemistry: In the beginning God created... Genesis 1:1
