果冻影院

Planetary scientists believe that organic macromolecules that make Earth suitable for life, including elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, initially came from a type of meteorite known as a chondrite 鈥� but how chondrites acquired these molecules in the first place was unknown.

The study, published in the journal听Nature Astronomy, used computer modelling to conclude that macromolecules could have formed in a short time in discs of dust around young stars.

The researchers found that intense starlight irradiating dust traps 鈥� areas where dust and ice accumulate in the disc 鈥� could have formed organic (carbon-containing) macromolecules in just a few decades.

Co-author Dr Paola Pinilla (Mullard Space Science Laboratory at 果冻影院) said: 鈥淚t is incredible to discover a new crucial role of dust traps in the formation of macromolecular matter that planets may need for hosting life.

鈥淒ust traps are beneficial regions for dust particles to grow to pebbles and planetesimals, which are the building blocks of planets. In these regions, very small particles can be continuously re-created thanks to destructive collisions.

鈥淭hese tiny particles (micron-sized grains) can easily be lifted to the听upper layers of the disc where they can get the right听amount of irradiation to听efficiently convert these tiny icy particles into complex macromolecular matter.听听

鈥淚n the near future, we look forward to testing these models with more laboratory experiments and observations using powerful telescopes like the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).鈥�

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If, the researchers thought, there were dust traps that were also exposed to intense starlight, organic macromolecules might well form there.

To test their hypothesis, the researchers set up a model and found that under the right conditions, the formation of macromolecules similar to those found on meteorites was feasible in just a few decades.

Principal investigator Niels Ligterink, of the University of Bern in Switzerland and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, said: "We had hoped for this result, of course, but it was a nice surprise that it was so obvious.

鈥淚 hope that colleagues will pay more attention to the effect of heavy radiation on complex chemical processes. Most researchers focus on relatively small organic molecules of a few dozen atoms in size, while chondrites contain mostly large macromolecules".

Co-author Dr Nienke van der Marel, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, said: "It's really super cool that we can now use an observation-based model to explain how large molecules can form."

Eleven years ago, she and her colleagues, including Dr Pinilla, were the first to convincingly demonstrate the existence of dust traps.

"Our research is a unique combination of astrochemistry, observations with ALMA, laboratory work, dust evolution and the study of meteorites from our solar system".

Links

• Mullard Space Science Laboratory at 果冻影院
• 果冻影院 Mathematical & Physical Scientists

Image

• Artist's impression of a dust trap. The dust trap provides a safe haven for small particles in the disk, allowing them to clump together and grow large enough to survive on their own. Credit: ESO/L. Cal莽ada
• Irradiated dust trap in a protoplanetary disc.听AI generated, no copyright.

Video

• Animation of a dust trap. Credit: ESO/L. Cal莽ada

Media contact

Mark Greaves

m.greaves [at] ucl.ac.uk

+44 (0)20 3108 9485