The Webb telescope detects elements of life in the coldest molecular clouds

Scientists say that these elements are the “building blocks of life” and may contribute to the emergence of living organisms on habitable planets.

The Webb Space Telescope stumbled upon the “building blocks of life” frozen inside the molecular cloud’s deepest and coldest frozen particles. The Daily Mail writes about it.

The device detected methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and ethanol in the molecular cloud of Chameleon 1. It is located 500 light years from Earth and is the coldest in science.

The cloud temperature reaches minus 300 degrees Celsius.

“The Chameleon 1 molecular cloud is so cold that various molecules are frozen inside its icy particles. The new discovery proves that molecules more complex than methanol can appear in such a cold cloud before the stars appeared. But dozens of new stars are now undergoing the formation phase in the particularly cold, dense and inaccessible region of the Chameleon 1 molecular cloud,” experts said.

Methane, nitrogen, ethanol and carbon are also reported to be important components of the atmospheres of habitable planets. They form the basis of sugars, alcohols and simple amino acids.

“Many planets that will form in this molecular cloud will receive many of the detected molecules. This may suggest that the presence of prebiotic molecule precursors in planetary systems is a common result of star formation, and not a unique feature. of our solar system,” the researchers said.

Recall that James Webb first took a picture of the Wolf-Ryet star, which is located at a distance of about 5600 light-years from us.

The James Webb telescope takes the first direct image of an alien world

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