In the vast and empty expanses of interstellar space countless small molecules sail through the icy and dark environment. These spherical molecules, which were formed in the fusion reactors of the ancient stars and ejected into space after the explosion of the stars, are the source of the main amount of all carbon, hydrogen and silicon atoms in the universe.
![This graph shows the wavelengths as a function of the number of carbon atoms in materials containing carbon and silicon atoms [SiC(2n+1)H]. When the chain has 13 or more carbon atoms, the absorptions of these chains overlap the spectral region associated with the phenomenon [Courtesy: D. Kokkin, ASU].](https://www.hayadan.org.il/images/content3/2014/08/JCP-McCarthy-absorption-wavelength-resized-500x375.jpg)
[Translation by Dr. Nachmani Moshe]
A new study offers a new and surprising possibility in the field of molecules found in interstellar space: these mysterious molecules may be silicon compounds related to carbon such as: SiC3H, SiC4H and SiC5H.
In the vast and empty expanses of interstellar space countless small molecules sail through the icy and dark environment. These spherical molecules, which were formed in the fusion reactors of the ancient stars and ejected into space after the explosion of the stars, are the source of the main amount of all carbon, hydrogen and silicon atoms in the universe. In fact, it is assumed that close to twenty percent of all carbon in the universe is found in some form as interstellar molecules.
Many astronomers believe that these interstellar molecules are also responsible for the phenomenon observed from Earth and known as "diffuse interstellar bands" (Wikipedia) - spectrographic proof that something is found somewhere in the universe that absorbs distinct wavelengths (colors) coming from the stars before it reaches the sphere -Country. However, due to the fact that we do not know the exact chemical composition and atomic arrangements of these mysterious molecules, it is still not possible to prove that they are indeed the substances responsible for this phenomenon.
Now, in an article published in the scientific journal The Journal of Chemical Physics, a group of researchers led by scientists from the Center for Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, offer a new and enticing possibility: these mysterious molecules may be carbon-related silicon compounds such as: SiC3H, SiC4H and SiC5H, and these yield Results and theoretical arguments that can support this hypothesis. At the same time, the researchers warn and say that history has proven that although many possibilities have been proposed as the origin of this phenomenon, none of them has yet been scientifically proven.
Astronomers have known for many years that interstellar molecules containing carbon atoms do exist in space and due to their nature they are supposed to absorb light projected towards them from stars and other luminous celestial bodies. Because of this, a number of scientists have suggested in the past that a certain type of interstellar molecules are the source of the above phenomenon - the hundreds of dark absorption lines that appear in the spectrograms carried out on Earth. By not seeing anything there, the dark stripes reveal everything to us - the missing colors correspond to photons of specific wavelengths that were swallowed by the mysterious materials while moving through the vast expanses of space before reaching us.
With this information, scientists here on Earth will be able to use spectroscopic methods to identify these biostellar molecules through a laboratory search for molecules with the same spectroscopic fingerprints. However, despite many decades of scientific effort, the identity of these molecules responsible for the phenomenon remained unknown. None of these scientists have been able to reproduce the absorption spectrum as observed in laboratories here on Earth.
The researchers prepared in the laboratory hydrocarbon chains containing silicon atoms [SiC3H, SiC4H and SiC5H]. In the next step, they analyzed the spectrum of these materials and performed theoretical calculations in order to check whether longer chains of this family of materials could be the source of some of the absorption lines that appear as part of the phenomenon. At the same time, the researchers say that it has not yet been unequivocally proven that these substances are responsible for the phenomenon, and further research is still needed for final verification.
One response
"These spherical molecules, formed in the fusion reactors of the ancient stars and ejected into space after the explosion of the stars, are the source of the main amount of all carbon, hydrogen and silicon atoms in the universe." Well, really, the atoms were created in the explosion of stars and created the molecules. No molecule can exist in a supernova.
Regarding the article as a whole, the proof that the cake turned out well is in the taste. And here, the proof that the researchers identified the molecules is in matching the observed spectral lines to specific molecules. The researchers speculated about the types of molecules, but have not yet been able to prove it. There is still no matching of the spectral lines in the observation to any molecule.
(Moshe - this article should have been seriously edited, because most of it is not understood, and not just a translation)