Detecting chemicals is thought to form life

Signals from hydroxylamine molecules are an important basis for finding the origin of life on the planet about 3.6 billion years ago.

Astronomers have found traces of a chemical believed to be the element that formed life near the area of ​​a star about 1,000 light-years from Earth.

The signals from the hydroxylamine molecule made up of atoms of hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen still need to be verified for the above detection. However, if confirmed, this means that scientists have found a chemical that can be the source of life on other worlds. This is an important basis for finding the origin of life on our planet some 3.6 billion years ago.

The new finding has just been presented by the American Astronomical Association at a 221st meeting held on January 9 last.

"Previously, some astronomers used to think that life was formed in cold gas and gas," said Anthony Remijan, a chemist at the National Astronomical Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. The dust, asteroids, meteors are formed in clouds that contain chemicals and when they hit the planets, they can send chemicals to the Earth. other worlds ".

Found traces of a given chemical
is the element that forms life. (Photo: NASA)

There are also many scientists who support the theory that life can be formed from the phenomenon of hydrothermal spray on Earth. The molecules have turned into the first life forms and come from somewhere in space.

To prove this hypothesis, astronomers searched for chemical signals of simple inorganic compounds formed in interstellar clouds. These compounds do not form life but they can combine with other molecules to form life. For example, inorganic compounds can be combined with amino acids or nucleotides to form DNA.

Brett Mc Guire, a biochemist at the California Institute of Technology, said in recent years, scientists have found a number of different prebiotic molecules in space.

In hunting these molecules, chemist Remijan and colleagues swept the region that formed a star from the Milky Way galaxy (called L1157-B1) by studying the wavelength combination. Text in mm (Carma).

Scientists have found a very weak signal of hydroxylamine molecule. Inside the L1157-B1 galaxy there is a powerful gas force that can react chemically with an ice block deep inside the interstellar clouds. The result of this interaction formed the hydroxylamine molecule. In contrast, hydroxylamine molecules can react with other compounds such as acetic acid to form amino acids. These compounds can affect other planets in the aerospace collision process.

McGuire graduate student told LiveScience Magazine: 'We have some early evidence of our inventions. There is a very weak signal of hydroxylamine molecule that looks like a straight line. Very faint and indeterminate signals are defined as the presence of hydroxylamine molecules. These signals seem to come from the right area '.

And chemist Milam said: 'Any molecule has an identifiable sign and what McGuire graduate student presented is a characteristic sign. Therefore, we need to study many signs to confirm that hydroxylamine molecule is the true form of life. '

Chemist Milam said, to prove what was discovered, the team of Ramijan scientists will need to continue to look at signals coming from star-forming regions to confirm that, what they are seeing comes from other chemicals.