Oxygen molecules found in Orion's star nursery
Source: Xinhua |
August 3, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS have discovered oxygen molecules in deep space in a region of the Orion nebula, some 1,500 light years from the Earth, where new stars are being formed, according to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The discovery was made with the European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory, which used large telescope and infrared detectors to find the elusive molecules.
Individual oxygen atoms are common in space, particularly around massive stars. But molecular oxygen, which makes up about 20 percent of the air we breathe, has eluded astronomers until now.
Paul Goldsmith, NASA's Herschel project scientist at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said: "Oxygen gas was discovered in the 1770s, but it has taken us more than 230 years to finally say with certainty that this very simple molecule exists in space."
Goldsmith is lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Astrophysical Journal. The researchers plan to continue their hunt for oxygen molecules in other star--forming regions.
Bill Danchi, Herschel program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, said: "Oxygen is the third most common element in the universe and its molecular form must be abundant in space. Herschel is proving a powerful tool to probe this unsolved mystery. The observatory gives astronomers an innovative tool to look at a whole new set of wavelengths where the tell-tale signature of oxygen may be hiding."
The discovery was made with the European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory, which used large telescope and infrared detectors to find the elusive molecules.
Individual oxygen atoms are common in space, particularly around massive stars. But molecular oxygen, which makes up about 20 percent of the air we breathe, has eluded astronomers until now.
Paul Goldsmith, NASA's Herschel project scientist at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said: "Oxygen gas was discovered in the 1770s, but it has taken us more than 230 years to finally say with certainty that this very simple molecule exists in space."
Goldsmith is lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Astrophysical Journal. The researchers plan to continue their hunt for oxygen molecules in other star--forming regions.
Bill Danchi, Herschel program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, said: "Oxygen is the third most common element in the universe and its molecular form must be abundant in space. Herschel is proving a powerful tool to probe this unsolved mystery. The observatory gives astronomers an innovative tool to look at a whole new set of wavelengths where the tell-tale signature of oxygen may be hiding."
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